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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25171501">Everything After</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emptian/pseuds/Emptian'>Emptian</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Sole Survivor: Nora Mulyer [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Action/Adventure, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everybody is Forced to get Along, F/M, Family Issues, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Loving Marriage, Mystery, One-Sided Attraction, Political Intrigue, Reconciliation, Recovery, Slow Burn, The Brotherhood Might be Soldiers but they're still People, The General Gets to Actually General, The Minutemen Are Actually Realistic, Tragedy, What Nora Has In Charisma she lacks in a fight so be prepared to see her get kicked around a bit, Widowed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:08:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>255,752</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25171501</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emptian/pseuds/Emptian</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The idea behind signing up for the Vault program was to be prepared for the end of the world. Quite frankly, Nora expected to live out her life and die in that Vault of old age. Going to sleep and waking up to find her husband dead and her son missing was the exact opposite of everything she thought would happen after the bomb. Now Nora must return to the world she and the other Vault Dwellers abandoned in the hope of being reunited with her kidnapped son, and be thrust into the middle of post-War history as the War for the Commonwealth simmers and boils to an explosive finish.</p><p>Is the kidnapping the whole story, or is this just the beginning of something far more sinister? </p><p>---<br/>There are some major canon-divergences as the story goes on. One companion outright dies. Everyone's more concerned about the fact that Nora has a missing child than in the game. I try and remain canon-friendly where I can, but I'm taking liberties with personalities where it doesn't conflict with the original lore. TRIGGER WARNING: Nora's mental health gets a bit questionable. Then again, wouldn't anyone's?</p><p>Story is COMPLETE: You may notice some changes while I clean up typos though.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Arthur Maxson/Female Sole Survivor, Deacon &amp; Female Sole Survivor, Father | Shaun &amp; Female Sole Survivor, Nate/Female Sole Survivor, Nate/Nora (Fallout), Paladin Danse &amp; Female Sole Survivor, Paladin Danse/Glory (Fallout), Preston Garvey &amp; Female Sole Survivor, Robert Joseph MacCready &amp; Female Sole Survivor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Sole Survivor: Nora Mulyer [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1879093</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>128</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>61</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Prologue: In which a familiar scene is set. The bombs go off, and the Mulyers seek shelter in Vault 111. Things don't go so well.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>PROLOGUE</h1><p>
  <em>“We are the reckless/we are the wild youth/chasing visions of our futures./One day we’ll reveal the truth/that one will die before he gets there”. – Daughter "Youth"</em>
</p><hr/><p>     “You’re gonna knock ‘em dead at the Veteran’s Hall tonight, hun”.</p><p>     It was the first thing Nora Mulyer could remember from that fateful day. She’d walked into the only bathroom of their two-bedroom Cape Cod home. Nate had just finished shaving. Later in the day, they were meant to take a drive down to Cambridge’s Fraternal Post 115. After much pressuring, Nate had accepted an offer to make a speech at a fundraising event for the military. Here he was now, in her last happy memory of him, looking back at her and chuckling.</p><p>     “Yeah, you think so?”</p><p>     “I know so. Now quit hogging the mirror!”</p><p>     The next fifteen minutes or so of her life after that seemed so otherworldly now in hindsight. They finished washing up, wandered into the living room, and both drank from two fresh cups of perfectly brewed coffee a la Codsworth. Black for Nate, with cream for Nora, just the way things always were. The robotic butler floated gracefully back and forth, completing his morning routine by responding to a cry from Shaun. There was a knock on the door by a Vault-Tec salesperson who had stopped by to take some details about the Mulyer family to Vault 111 to complete their registration. As the salesperson left, Codsworth alerted Nate and Nora to Shaun’s fussiness continuing, ascribing it to a need for “maternal affection”. Nora was all too happy to oblige. In Shaun’s room, she spun the mobile that Nate had fixed only the night before, watching in awe as her son clapped gleefully. The world seemed perfect.</p><p>      “Sir! Mum! You should come and see this!”</p><p>      Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew the peaceful morning couldn’t last forever. Her instincts told her it was something about the war, and a voice in the back of her mind warned her about Nate as she pictured him being returned to the war front. She looked back for Nate instinctively as she rushed into the living room, seeing that he had followed her and carried Shaun to the television as well.</p><p>      “We’re getting reports of flashes. Blinding flashes in New York and Pennsylvania,” said the news anchor.</p><p>      “We’ve lost contact with our affiliate stations”.</p><p>      “Confirmed reports --- we repeat, <em>confirmed reports</em> of nuclear detonations in New York and Pennsylvania”.</p><p>      The next moments were a blur. They panicked, ran for the door, only stopping to tell Codsworth to stay safe as they abandoned their home for the security of the Vault. The streets of the once sleepy suburb of Sanctuary Hills were now flooding with panicking civilians and military forces converging by the vaults to assist with the evacuation. They barely squeezed past the crowd of un-registered persons at the Vault entrance, all being held back only by military threats.</p><p>     “What’s going to happen to all those people at the gate?” Nate asked.</p><p>     “We’re doing everything we can, now keep moving!” A Vault-Tec security official yelled back at them, as they raced through the gate and to the Vault elevator.</p><p>      Someone screamed as Nate and Nora reached the platform embedded unto the hill, “Down, down! Send it down NOW!”</p><p>      We’re going to be okay,” Nora remembered hearing, looking next to her to see Nate reassuringly looking at her as he gripped Shaun tightly. “I love you”.</p><p>      “I love you too.”</p><p>      Just as she felt the elevator start to descend, there was a shock wave. From the corner of her eyes, there was a blinding flash of light. A towering mushroom cloud suddenly rose up to the heavens, marking the end of everything the Mulyer’s had ever known. She could feel the heat and the radiation from the blast for just a moment while the elevator lowered. The full wave of the blast barely missed their heads; it was the last thing Nora saw of the outside world as the elevator tunnel became darker and darker.</p><p>#</p><p>     There was a light at the end of the tunnel. Nora looked out in front of her as artificial light from the vault brought a new world into view. Several people in blue jumpsuits and white lab codes greeted the frightened refugees as they stepped off the elevator and into their new home. The Vault induction process was a quick, unexplained process of guiding each survivor through some sort of scanner (presumably for radiation levels), giving them each a jumpsuit, and guiding them to a room full of strange looking pods.</p><p>     “These pods will decontaminate and depressurize you before we head further into the Vault,” a doctor explained curtly to the couple. “Just step in here and put your Vault Suit on”. Just as Nora unraveled the neatly folded Vault Suit to slip on over her existing clothing, she heard Shaun cry. Nate was having an exceedingly difficult time comforting their son. Upon closer inspection, as Shaun reached out and grabbed in Nora’s direction, it became apparent that their son was looking for her.</p><p>     “I’m not going very far. See?” She pointed to the Vault. “Mommy’s just going over there…”</p><p>     “I think he’s calm now, honey," Nate sighed with relief after a moment. "Go ahead”.</p><p>     Nora took Shaun for a moment so that Nate could have the opportunity to put on his own Vault Suit before handing their son back over to his father. Slipping her own suit on, she climbed into her decontamination pod and turned to see Nate and Shaun getting situated in the pod across from her. The door closed ominously.</p><p>     Nora closed her eyes and muttered softly, to re-assure herself, “time for a whole new life”.</p><p>     She could hear the pod’s automated computer speaking above her. “Resident secure. Decontamination in progress. Procedure complete…in 5…4…”</p><p>     She felt a sensation of sleepiness. It seemed to be getting colder.</p><p>     “3…2…”</p><p>#</p><p>     Despite the relative serenity which Vault-Tec had attempted to maintain while acclimating survivors to life after the bomb, Nora found the silence to be deafening. A few moments in, she realized she was only just waking up in a very, very dark room.</p><p>     The last thing she could remember was the Vault-Tec decontamination pod. As she watched her icy breath form a thin cloud in front of her and condense on the pod window, she realized she was still inside. She pounded the door for attention. No response.</p><p>     Inching closer to see if anyone was outside, she noticed that Nate and Shaun were still inside of their pods as well. She wondered if they were -meant- to be asleep inside of these pods. Maybe the decontamination process took longer than she had thought?</p><p>     Two figures could be seen walking outside. One of them could have been mistaken for a Vault-Tec employee, with a strange-looking clean-suit that didn’t look too out of place with the Vault wardrobe. The other person, clearly a man, looked much different. His attire looked distinctly military, or perhaps mercenary, in appearance. She could see a revolver in his right hand. Both stopped in front of Nate and Shaun’s pod. Nora instinctively knocked again, louder, but other than a slight glance from the man, she was ignored.</p><p>     The clean-suit figure spoke first. A woman’s voice. “This is the one,” she said, pointing directly at Shaun. “Here”.</p><p>     “Open it,” the mercenary spoke. With the movement of a switch, the door to Nate’s pod opened. Nora could immediately hear Nate coughing and Shaun crying.</p><p>     “I-is it over?” Nate questioned, sounding a bit like he was still in a daze, “are we okay?”</p><p>     “Almost,” the other man said. “Everything’s going to be fine”.</p><p>     Nora felt the hairs on the back of her neck suddenly rise as the woman in the clean-suit reached out suddenly for Shaun. “Here, here baby”.</p><p>     “No, no,” Nate said sternly. “I’ve got him”. At that moment, the woman attempted to pull Shaun away. Now, Nate was fighting back, pulling his son back into his arms. Nora began banging furiously on the door of her pod, begging them all to stop. Surely this was some kind of mistake.</p><p>     The revolver was now aimed right at Nate’s chest. “Let the boy go. I’m only going to tell you once”.</p><p>     “I’m not giving you Shaun!”</p><p>     The next sound may as well have been another atomic bomb going off. Nora watched helplessly as she saw Nate lifelessly let go of Shaun and slump backwards into the pod. The woman who had been attempting to take Shaun now firmly held him, clutching a treasure that didn't belong to her.</p><p>     As Nora watched her world end a second time, she saw the mercenary turn and face her pod. He walked right up to her and smiled.</p><p>     “At least we still have the backup”.</p><p>     Before she could scream, she felt the cold return and descended back into unconsciousness.</p><p>#</p><p>     “Giant roaches? What the hell?”</p><p>     Her pod door had opened suddenly after who only knew how long. The first thing Nora could remember doing was running up to her husband’s pod, looking to see if he was still alive.</p><p>     He was frozen solid. The pods had frozen all of them, with only Nora being left alive in a waking nightmare. When she opened the door of his pod to examine him, even his blood was frozen solid. He’d been like this for a while.</p><p>     She couldn’t be sure exactly how long, but there were skeletons littering the Vault as she stumbled her way through what was supposed to be their refuge from the apocalypse.</p><p>     “Anyone? Is anyone here? Hello?”</p><p>     She knew she was alone. It didn’t take a genius to see all of the skeletons and know that something had gone horribly wrong. She wondered if the Vault had been compromised in some way. Surely there must have been some kind of attack that had happened in the days of anarchy following the atom bomb. Somehow, someone had broken into the Vault and killed all of the staff. That explained why no one from the Vault had woken up any of the residents, and why there was some sort of fault in the pods that had killed everyone else --- right?</p><p>     The Overseer’s terminal told a much different story. At least 90 days had passed, according to records of the Vault staff celebrating Christmas in the midst of a mandatory 90 day waiting period. They were monitoring the test subjects --- test subjects! --- within their cryogenic suspension until Vault-Tec had given the all-clear, after which Vault-Tec would supposedly “remotely” assume monitoring.</p><p>      Translation: all of the Vault participants were meant to be left for dead once the staff were evacuated.</p><p>      Of course, the all-clear order from Vault-Tec never came. At some point in time there had been a mutiny, which led to everyone not frozen in the Vault to either die or flee. Nora wondered if Shaun’s kidnapping had something to do with this mutiny before remembering the wardrobe of the two figures who had taken her son. They wore neither jumpsuits nor lab coats. Questions remained of how much longer it had been since the mutiny, and how long had she been out since. The panic drove her forward as she smashed roaches with a baton she’d found abandoned in the hallway. At the Overseer’s desk, she’d found a 10mm pistol, barely remembering how to shoot as she searched for the elevator. Some of the doors being blocked off made her exit from the Vault that much harder. Eventually, she found another way to the elevator. It was impressive luck that one of the dead bodies still had a working Pip-Boy that could interface with the Vault door.</p><p>      When she entered the Vault, she wasn’t totally sure she’d ever see the outside world again. With nuclear bombs going off all across the country, there were fears that the surface would be uninhabitable for generations. It didn’t look that bad when the sunlight finally hit her eyes and Nora could see the remains of Sanctuary Hills. Some of the houses had caved in. There were no signs of life on the streets. Looking around at the cranes and Vault-Tec trailers that surrounded the elevator, Nora could see signs of rust and decay.</p><p>      “So…maybe a couple decades?” She hoped Shaun wasn’t a grown man somewhere, unaware of her existence. There was no other choice but to push the thoughts away as she descended the hill and wandered to the neighborhood she’d once called home.</p><p>#</p><p>      A familiar sight greeted Nora as she made it to her old home.</p><p>      At first, she thought she was hallucinating the sounds of a buzz-saw cutting into dead shrubbery. There was a familiar atomic hum resonating in her ears as she approached her doorstep.</p><p>      “Codsworth?" The robot seemed just as surprised as Nora was.</p><p>      “As I live and breathe! It’s you! It’s really you!” Codsworth exclaimed. He sounded almost heartbroken. Nora barely held the tears at bay as she moved up to the familiar Mr. Handy and hugged him.</p><p>      “Codsworth! You’re still here!”</p><p>      “Well of course I’m still here. Surely you don’t think a little radiation could deter the pride of General Atomics International?” Nora vaguely remembered Nate being frustrated with having accidentally set Codsworth’s “optimism” setting just a bit too high. Right now, however, she wouldn’t have had it any other way. She felt a pang of uneasiness, however, as Codsworth quickly remarked that she seemed “a bit worse for wear”, and asked about where Nate was. Nora could only think about the man who had shot Nate and taken Shaun away from them. Suddenly, she realized that the kidnappers would have likely passed through Sanctuary Hills on the way to the Vault.</p><p>      “They came into the Vault,” Nora said softly. “Maybe you saw them? They had guns and strange outfits?”</p><p>      “Only Ms. Rosa’s boy, running around in his Halloween costume, more than a week early. I swear, the nerve of that woman, leaving her brat unsupervised”.</p><p>      <em>The Rosas?</em>  The yellow house once belonging to Ms. Rosa and her young son was obviously empty and suspiciously dilapidated. The roof was still attached, which was more than could be said for some of the other houses in the neighborhood. The walls of the house were full of holes and marked with rust pockets. The garage looked suspiciously different --- there was a power armor stand and several other workbenches scattered around the area. Ms. Rosa and her boy had been fairly handy, spending the past several months bonding over fixing the late Mr. Rosa’s Corvega following the news that he’d been killed in action overseas.</p><p>      The Corvega was nowhere to be found, however. Nora somehow doubted that Ms. Rosa and her son had suddenly traded in their car for weapons, armor, and power armor --- and even if they did, where were they now? Power Armor was hard to miss.</p><p>      “His…<em>Halloween</em> costume?”</p><p>      “Oh yes, mum,” Codsworth said somewhat disapprovingly. “Romero Zombie or something of the like. Sagging plastic for skin. Patches of hair, tattered clothing, and he goes around making this awful hissing noise too. It doesn’t help that Ms. Rosa’s often running around the same way, in a similar costume. Still a week early too, how distasteful…”</p><p>      “Codsworth, where are Ms. Rosa and her son now? Have you seen them?”</p><p>      “The Rosas? A moment ago you were asking about strange people in costumes. I suppose the Rosas would qualify. They’ve been gone quite a while, though. I think the last time I saw them in town was a few weeks ago”.</p><p>      <em>If the Rosas are around, maybe there’s still a chance it hasn’t been that long. </em>Nora began to question exactly how long she’d been locked up in Vault 111. Everything was still too new and too foreign to make an accurate assessment --- the Rosas were still alive, but the area around Sanctuary was unrecognizable, fully decomposed skeletons were everywhere, and there had been enough time for roaches to vastly increase in size. <em>Then again, maybe radiation sped up their growth?</em></p><p>      Codsworth’s own questions interrupted her train of thought. “Mum, about sir…where is he, by the by?” Nora felt a lump in her throat as she was forced to reconcile with the tragedy which felt like it was mere moments ago.</p><p>      “He’s…” she struggled to get the words out before finally adding, “…in a better place”.</p><p>      “Mum, these things you’re saying, these terrible things…I believe you need a distraction. Yes! A distraction, to calm this dire mood. It’s been ages since we’ve had a proper family activity. Checkers. Or perhaps charades? Shaun does so love that game. Is the lad with you?”</p><p>      Nora couldn’t help but roll her eyes at that moment. Obviously, Shaun wasn’t with her. The usually diligent Codsworth was now barely more helpful than a brick wall. Talking to him certainly made her <em>feel</em> like she was talking to a brick wall. She needed to take a more direct approach.</p><p>      “Codsworth, listen to me carefully. Have you seen him? Have you seen Shaun?” Codsworth’s only response was some nonsense about a playdate with the Parker family. Nora could barely compose herself as she reminded the robot that Shaun couldn’t possibly have gone for a playdate with the Parker family, given that Nora would have known about it, and Nate was too dead to arrange it otherwise. It was at this moment that Codsworth finally revealed the truth.</p><p>      “It’s worse than I thought. Mmhmm. You’re suffering from hunger-induced paranoia. Not eating properly for two-hundred years will do that, I’m afraid”.</p><p>      “Wait, what?! Two-hundred years? Are you serious?”</p><p>      “A bit over two-hundred and ten, actually, mum. Give or take a little for the Earth’s rotation and some minor dings to the ole’ chronometer”. Despite this, Codsworth continued in his usual cheery manner. “That means you’re over two centuries late for dinner! I can whip you up a snack? You must be famished”.</p><hr/><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Toe-To-Toe With A Giant Lizard</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 2: In which Nora meets the last Commonwealth Minuteman, and goes toe-to-toe with a giant lizard. It's all in the title.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>TOE-TO-TOE WITH A GIANT LIZARD</h1><p>
  <em>“Come on now, who do you/who do you who do you/who do you think you are?/Ha ha ha, bless your soul/you really think you’re in control?” – Gnarls Barkley “Crazy”</em>
</p><hr/><p>    The snack had been a somehow unopened box of Sugar Bombs cereal. One thing that Nora could say in favor of Codsworth is that his loyalty to the household was no less than his exponential optimism. In the two centuries that had followed the atomic bomb and everything after, the Mulyer house was considerably better put-together than much of the other homes in the area. There had been some signs of looters and scavengers over the years. Even most of the canned and otherwise non-perishable foods (like the box of Sugar Bombs) were gone. Almost all of Nate, Nora, and Shaun’s clothes were also long one. A few discarded items were left in the corners of some of the closets, tattered far beyond use. Still, most of the furniture, despite the effects of time, was right were the Mulyer’s had left it.</p><p>    “A few weeks after the bombs fell, the looters became quite desperate,” Codsworth explained. Nora sat on what remained of the family sofa in the living from, snacking on pieces of Sugar Bombs. “I wanted to leave everything the way it was for you, sir, and Shaun once you would eventually emerge from the Vault. Of course, sometimes I had to go to the garage to polish the car, or take a trip down to Concord looking for cleaning supplies. I couldn’t always be here to protect everything while I was away. I’m terribly sorry, Mum”.</p><p>    “Codsworth, I’m not worried about the clothes. Shaun would probably have outgrown them anyway. We were meant to be in the Vault for a while”.</p><p>    “I must say, I adore the Vault suit. Vault-Tec certainly has a sense of style, Mum”.</p><p>    “Erm, thanks Codsworth”. Nora took another handful of Sugar Bomb pieces into her mouth before remembering that she had just slipped the Vault Suit on over her clothing. Handing the box of cereal back to Codsworth, Nora wandered into the bathroom and removed the Vault Suit. Somehow, the green blouse and tapered pants she had been wearing on the morning of the morning no longer appealed to her. The Vault Suit seemed at least somewhat insulated against the elements. The nights were sure to be cold, and she doubted Codsworth had managed to keep the heating and cooling systems operational in a house where the electricity was long-gone.</p><p>     It felt strange, wearing only a Vault Suit and her undergarments. At the very least, it was one-size-fits-all, and easily adjustable to be a snug fit for her physique. Nora brushed off the compliments from Codsworth, likely meant as an attempt to make her feel better, before looking around the two bedrooms.</p><p>     All that was left of Nate, beside Nora’s wedding ring and Shaun, was a picture of him and Nora when they’d gone to Bunker Hill before the war. The obelisk towered behind them in the background. Nora’s pink coat looked almost white in the photo, while Nate’s slightly ill-fitting suit really was as black in real life as it was in the photo. Nate had just arrived home two months prior, after a grueling deployment in Anchorage during the Sino-American war. The Veteran’s Hall were having an event at Bunker Hill and invited the Mulyer’s to Bunker Hill as a result. Both of them had thin, muted smiles in this photo, secretly ready to leave the war behind and enjoy as much of their peaceful married life as they could take.</p><p>     Shaun was in the photo too, though neither Nate or Nora knew it yet. It was a week after the photo that the morning sickness and the fatigue began to set in. The Pip Boy had a little storage tray for small notes and a pen, alongside a built-in holotape player where Nora had placed a tape Codsworth had said was from Nate. Nora tucked the photo into the compartment and closed it shut.</p><p>     In Shaun’s room, Nora felt a sense of dismay. Someone from the days of the earliest looters must have remembered that Nate and Nora had a baby. Most of the baby bottles and diapers had been ransacked. The mobile that Nate had fixed during what felt like only a day ago was broken again, missing a rocket-ship and no longer playing its melody. The room had been turned upside down, presumably on a day where Codsworth had left the home to seek out cleaning supplies or fresh oil for his own self-maintenance.</p><p>     Still, it wasn’t like Shaun would have needed those items anymore. Nora put herself into the mindset of a scared, desperate family denied entrance to the Vault. What fresh hell had they avoided by finding security in Vault 111? She looked down to see a little book tossed to the side, forgotten but still legible. <em>YOU’RE SPECIAL. </em>Opening the pages, her eyes fixated on the page involving “Luck”. Shaun would need as much of it as he could find, in a world like this.</p><p>     What fresh hell was Shaun still out there in, alone and defenseless?</p><p>#</p><p>     According to Codsworth, there were still people in Concord. What <em>type </em>of people worried Nora a little bit, after a curious comment from Codsworth that they had “only” thrown rocks and chased him out of the town a few times. With it having been over two-hundred years since Nora had gone into the Vault to begin with, Nora questioned if there were even a point in looking for Shaun to begin with. When she was standing on the hill looking out at Sanctuary Hills, she worried about twenty years having passed and Shaun being a grown man with no memory of her. What if it had been so long that Shaun himself were just a memory?</p><p><em>     It’s better to look and find nothing than not to look if your baby is still out there.</em> <em>What else do you have left to lose? Maybe you'll at least find a child or two of his.</em></p><p>     After a walk with Codsworth through the neighborhood, killing giant mutated insects, Nora had scavenged up a few bottles of soda, a few tins of food, some Stimpaks, and some extra ammunition for the 10mm gun she’d found in the Vault. Concord was just a short distance away from Sanctuary, even on foot. She could be in at the doorstep of the Museum of Freedom within a couple of hours. With a (hopefully not final) goodbye to Codsworth and a can of purified water he’d distilled for her, she crossed the bridge out of Sanctuary and began the walk down to Concord.</p><p>     A dog began to follow her as she passed the Red Rocket Truck Stop that was close to her home. At first, focused on Concord and Shaun, she did her best to ignore the dog. After a few paces and some incessant whining from the pooch, she turned and looked at him. He seemed friendly enough for a strange wasteland mutt.</p><p>     “You lost, boy?” She stuck out her hand gently. The dog approached cautiously, gave her hand a sniff and a lick, and then began wagging its tail.</p><p>
  <em>     Friendly.</em>
</p><p>     “Let’s stick together, boy,” she said softly, motioning for him to follow along. Their journey to Concord was uneventful, minus stumbling across a rotting animal carcass which was still being eaten by giant, flying, mutated, thankfully somewhat fragile mosquitoes. As downtown Concord came into view, Nora could hear nearby gunfire. <em>More mosquitoes?</em></p><p>     She could see a few armed and armored people shooting at something, although from the distance, she wasn’t able to tell exactly what that something was. As she cautiously approached, one of the men suddenly turned around and noticed her.</p><p>     “Fuck! Another one of these assholes over here! Here!”</p><p>     He lifted his arms, fired a shot, and Nora heard the sharp crack of a gunshot being aimed directly at her. She froze for a moment, feeling the urge to run, before noticing that more of the men and women were running straight for her.</p><p>     She was still somewhat fatigued from her time in the cryo-pod, and they were definitely more athletic. The closest man to her waved a knife in the fast, stabbing and slashing at her. In the heat of the moment, she bolted backwards, aimed her gun back, and fired. The bullet landed right between the two eye-holes of the man’s hood, and he fell backwards immediately. One of the others who’d run up to her, a woman, screamed “you killed him!” before attacking Nora with just as much fury as the previous assailant.</p><p>     With the realization that she’d just killed a man, Nora felt her blood go cold. The second attacker would certainly have been able to use this frozen state to her advantage, had it not been for the dog suddenly sinking his teeth into her knee.</p><p>     “Get it off! GET IT OFF!” The woman’s screams snapped Nora out of her stupor, just in time to see the woman kick the dog off of her and raise the knife towards the mutt in a menacing gesture. Nora took a deep breath, realizing what was at stake, and aimed the gun at the woman’s back.</p><p><em>     Bang.</em> A debt repaid. The dog looked at Nora for a moment before suddenly running off into the heat of the action, on the doorstep of the Museum of Freedom.</p><p>     “Wait, where are you going? There’s more men with guns there!” Nora yelled, before following. She was running off of pure adrenaline now, not wanting to go forwards into the action, but not knowing where else to go. Two more armed thugs faced her, one with a pistol and the other with a shotgun. As the dog lunged for the man with the pistol, Nora turned her sights on the shotgun bearer. Making quick work of him, she spun around, aimed her gun at the last man while he was shaking off the dog, and pulled the trigger.</p><p>
  <em>     Click.</em>
</p><p>     As he aimed the gun at her, she realized she couldn’t reload quick enough to save herself. There was a moment of panic in her heart as she realized that her search was over before it began. Suddenly, there was a crack of what sounded slightly like a military laser rifle, and the last man disintegrated into dust before her eyes. A voice called out from the heavens.</p><p>    “Hey, up here! On the balcony!”</p><p>     She looked up. There was a man in a long coat, with a crooked hat, yelling at her. The gun he held looked like a cross between a laser rifle and an old-school musket. Despite the fact that she’d just seen him turn another man to ash, she felt relieved to see the first human being in two-hundred years who wasn’t actively shooting at her.</p><p>     “I’ve got a group of settlers inside! The raiders are almost through the door! Grab that Laser Musket and help us! Please!”</p><p>     Before she could say anything, he’d disappeared back into the top floor of the museum. One of the dead bodies lying in front of the door was dressed differently from the rest, in a dirty looking militia uniform, with the aforementioned Laser Musket and some scattered ammunition in front of him. She scooped up the gun and ammunition, took a moment to examine it and see if it was something she could use, reloaded her own 10mm pistol, and then entered the Museum’s front door.</p><p>#</p><p>     Most of the raiders inside the building were aiming in the other direction when Nora and the dog entered the building. Taking advantage of the chaos of the situation, Nora, bolted to the right of the entrance, to a separate section of the building. The dark room lit up as she made her way through the corridor. Mannequins dressed in Revolutionary War era uniforms cast menacing shadows and figures before her. Whatever motion sensor she’d tripped when she walked in caused a speaker system overhead to play pre-recorded sound effects of gunfire and screams of “No more British occupation!”</p><p>     “Back to England with you!”</p><p>     “Have your tea back, you jackanapes!”</p><p>     A different voice, not from the overhead speakers: “I’ll find you!” She turned the corner to see a man looking around for her, dressed like one of the raiders from before who’d attacked her. She shot him. This time, before going out into the main room, she stopped to take his ammunition and the leather chest piece he was wearing.</p><p>     When she exited the next door, entering the main atrium of the museum’s ground floor, bullets immediately began flying in her direction. One of her assailants fell suddenly to the ground floor, hit by her new ally’s gunfire. Nora aimed her gun up at the other assailants and began firing, taking them down one by one. She felt a couple of bullets hit the chest armor, stopping just short of doing serious damage. She felt a wave of pain from a bullet grazing her arm, tearing her Vault Suit. As some of the enemies ducked behind pillars and railings to reload, Nora took the opportunity to dash to the stairs and make her way to the second floor. She heard the crack of the Laser Musket once or twice as she ran into one of the hallways on the second floor.</p><p>      Up ahead in the hallway, she ran into a few more raiders. The first couple went down easy, with Nora having managed to get the drop on them in the darkness of the unlit hallway. The next one after that, as she climbed the steps to the third floor, caught her by surprise with the butt of his rifle smashing right into her face. She tumbled back unto the stairs, her eyes blurring from the hit, before seeing the dog run up from behind her and tackle the raider. Blood splattered everywhere as the dog mauled her last attacker.</p><p>      When she made it to the top floor, she saw another laser discharge from the room on her right, hitting one of the last raiders straight in the face. The door to the room on the right suddenly opened. The man who’d begged for her help on the balcony was ushering her in.</p><p>      When she made it in and the door closed around her, she took a moment to look around at the group that the man had said he’d gathered inside the building. There was a muscular man with a pompadour haircut clicking away at the keys of a terminal. Further back in the room, there were a man and woman hiding in the corner, and an elderly woman sitting in a chair, staring at the ground. The man who’d been on the balcony spoke first.</p><p>      “Man, I don’t know who you are, but your timing’s impeccable. Preston Garvey, Commonwealth Minutemen”.</p><p>      “Er…hello Preston,” Nora said awkwardly (and somewhat exhaustedly). “I’m Nora. Glad to help”.</p><p>      “Well, if that’s true,” Preston said curtly, “we could use some more goodwill. As you can see we’re in a bit of a mess here. Sturges, tell her”.</p><p>      Sturges, the man with the pompadour haircut, turned from his terminal and explained that there was a Vertibird on the roof with a minigun and a set of T-45 power armor. Without a Fusion Core to power the suit, they couldn’t make any use of these impressive military armaments --- which was a shame, considering there was a whole gang of raiders converging on the Museum. Of course, there was a Fusion Core in the basement of the Museum, locked behind a security door and a terminal, but Sturges couldn’t figure out the terminal password, and no one in the group had managed to figure out another way past the lock. After taking a moment to inject her arm with a Stimpak and search the remaining corpses for more armor, Nora made her way down to the basement. Pulling a bobby pin from her hair and a nearby screwdriver from a toolbox in the basement, she struggled to remember an old trick she’d learned about opening a locked door with a bobby pin. <em>Too bad I don’t have a credit card handy. </em>She very nearly broke the bobby pin a couple of times before finally hearing a satisfying click and feeling the door handle give way. Plucking the Fusion Core out of the generator, Nora made her way back upstairs and to the roof of the museum. The sooner she got this nonsense over with, the sooner she could go back to looking for Shaun. Traversing the Wasteland hellscape in a suit of power armor certainly wouldn’t hurt.</p><p>#</p><p>      It was somewhat satisfying to climb into the power armor and rip the minigun from the mount on the Vertibird. It was even more satisfying to jump down from the roof of the Museum when the leader of the raiders asked Nora to show him the power armor “up close”. As difficult as the fight to the top of the museum had been, the journey back down was noticeably smoother.</p><p>      Most of the raiders either ran or were mowed down like weeds when Nora fired off the minigun. Feeling her adrenaline rush finally pass, she looked around the main street of Concord to see the raider threat finally extinguished. There was a moment of strange pride as she turned back to Preston and motioned that the coast seemed to be clear.</p><p>      He didn’t seem to be on board, looking strangely terrified. Nora noticed that the dog was on the balcony with Preston, barking at her with a concerned tone.</p><p>      <em>Guys! Come down here! The coast is cl---</em></p><p>      There was a distant rumbling and a loud <em>clang</em> from the opposite direction. Nora couldn’t believe what she saw next. Whatever this thing was, it was large, angry, and charging straight at her. She barely had time to let the minigun warm up and begun firing before she felt the impact of a large monster slamming straight into her. If not for the power armor, the impact alone would probably have been enough to kill her.</p><p>      She saw a glob of saliva drop down from the monster’s mouth and fall unto the visor of her helmet. The creature was like nothing else she’d ever seen before; a mad scientist’s twisted description of what a dinosaur would look like if it were mutated extensively. Most of the creature’s weight kept her pinned to the ground, despite her struggling. One of the beast’s arms wound back for an attack. Nora saw, then felt, a set of giant, razor sharp claws tearing into the side of her power armor. As she screamed from the pain, another crack of a laser could be heard. This one seemed to be more powerful than the others, hitting the monster in the shoulder with enough force to leave a significant burn. Preston had spent a bit more time winding up his laser musket for this shot. Nora staggered to her knees and crawled into the doorway of a hardware store with a small doorway.</p><p>      In the set of power armor, she barely fit through the door. The monster shook off its shoulder wound and lunged after her, but got caught on the small door frame, only managing to fit about half if its torso before getting stuck.</p><p>     Having backed up enough to be out of reach, Nora revved up the minigun again and aimed right at the monster’s face. Only after she was absolutely sure that she’d reduced the beast’s brains to paste did she dare to inch towards the door frame again.</p><p>#</p><p>     When she’d struggled back up to her feet and slowly hobbled her way into the Museum, Nora found Preston and company waiting at the ground floor for her.</p><p>     “That was,” Preston hesitated before adding, “a pretty amazing display. I’m just glad you’re on our side”.</p><p>     “I feel the same way, Preston. You certainly saved my ass a couple times today with that laser musket of yours”.</p><p>     “Well, considering you saved our asses with that minigun and the power armor, I’d say we’re even. Since you said you were glad to help, maybe you could come to Sanctuary with us. We could use your help getting settled there”.</p><p>      “Sanctuary? Wait, you don’t mean Sanctuary Hills? The neighborhood north of here? That’s where you’re heading to?”</p><p>      “Yeah,” Preston nodded. The others were still shying away from her. “We’re up from Quincy. I’m getting these folks to somewhere much safer”.</p><p>      <em>I wonder what’s going on in Quincy</em>, Nora sighed, before realizing Quincy was quite a ways for someone to travel on foot.</p><p>      “Wait, you guys came all the way from Quincy? I need to ask you something. I need to know if you’ve seen someone. A man in strange clothing with a scar on his head. He might have had a woman and a baby with him?”</p><p>      Preston sighed. “I haven’t seen anyone like that”. He looked back at Sturges and the younger couple of the group. The woman, Marcy, rolled her eyes and muttered “we’ve all got our own problems”, while her husband Jun rocked back and forth in the throes of a panic attack. Sturges just sighed and responded “no, sorry”.</p><p>      Nora sighed and turned for the door. “Well, shit. I guess we should get going…”</p><p>      A voice stopped her. “Before you leave, kid, a word”. It was the old woman the others called “Mama Murphy”.</p><p>      “About the journey you’re about to start on. I’ve seen your destiny, and I know your pain. You’re a woman out of time. Out of hope. But all’s not lost; I can feel your son’s energy. He’s alive”.</p><p>      <em>I never told them he was my son.</em></p><p>      Nora turned around, blinking back tears in her eyes.</p><p>      “How…how can you know that? How did you know?”</p><p>      Mama Murphy looked at Nora reassuringly. “Look kid, I know how I sound. The sight, it’s weird. And it ain’t always clear, but I know your son’s out there. I’ve seen it, just like I saw you crawl out of that ice box”.</p><p>      “What’s the sight?” Nora asked inquisitively. Preston and Sturges looked away uncomfortably. There was no response from Jun, but his wife scoffed sharply in the background.</p><p>      “I can’t describe it clearly, kid. It’s something I was just born with. It isn’t always clear, but it never lies. You should know what I saw for what you did for us, your boy is alive, and even I don’t need the sight to tell you where you should start looking. Diamond City, the Great Green Jewel of the Commonwealth”.</p><p>       “Diamond City?”</p><p>       Sturges filled her in. “Largest settlement in the Commonwealth. Place is huge. It’s in the heart of the ruins of Boston. We wound up avoiding it because it’s in the ruins of the city and the ruins are dangerous. Plus, we’re not really meant for city life. We want a place to call our own just like what we had in Quincy. Now unfortunately, because none of us have ever been there, I can’t exactly give you great directions”.</p><p>       Nora looked back at Mama Murphy. “Anything else you can tell me?”</p><p>       “Well, I’m a bit tired now kid. The sight takes a lot out of me. But maybe once we’re all settled in at Sanctuary, you can bring me some Jet and we can give it a try”.</p><p>        <em>Jet? Isn’t that just drugs made from fertilizer?</em></p><p>“No, Mama Murphy, we talked about this,” Preston chided. “That stuff, it’s gonna kill you”.</p><p>        Nora looked back at the frail old woman. As much as she wanted to know if Mama Murphy was right, she decided to just stop at the lead to Diamond City. The largest settlement in the Commonwealth was a likely stopping point for a mercenary like the man who’d shot her husband and stole her son. Everyone had to resupply somewhere.</p><p>#</p><p>       The walk to Sanctuary was thankfully uneventful. No raiders or giant bugs on the way back meant a smooth walk to Nora’s former hometown.</p><p>       “So, I saw the Vault Suit,” Preston commented, as Nora walked alongside him in her damaged power armor. The overhead display in her visor marked the Fusion Core as being under 50% power. She wasn’t going to be using this armor for much longer at this rate.</p><p>       “Is Vault 111 near here?”</p><p>       Nora sighed. “It’s right up the hill from Sanctuary”.</p><p>       “Are there any other Vault Dwellers there? I know your people are kinda cautious about taking in outsiders, but maybe we can at least do some trading? You think your Overseer might be alright with that?”</p><p>       Silence.</p><p>        “Uh, Nora, you okay?”</p><p>        “I’m the only one left,” Nora said softly.</p><p>        “Oh,” Preston mumbled. “I’m sorry”.</p><p>        “Well,” Nora perked up, trying to channel some of Codsworth’s optimism, “I’m not counting Shaun. He’s my son. A couple of mercenaries broke into the Vault and stole him. They killed my husband too”.</p><p>        “Damn. A couple mercenaries got past the Vault and wiped it out to just you and your son?”</p><p>        “Uh…kinda. We weren’t exactly well defended”.</p><p>        “Really? Why not”.</p><p>        “Preston, you’d think I’m crazy”.</p><p>        “I just saw you go toe-to-toe with a giant lizard a few hours ago and win. Anything’s possible. You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to, but I’m open-minded”.</p><p>        Nora thought for a moment, nodded, and then explained. “We were placed into these stasis pods in the Vault and frozen. Vault Security and the Vault-Tec Staff had some kind of mutiny not long after we were frozen and they ended up vacating the Vault and leaving it with just us inside, frozen. I don’t know how long after the mutiny it took before the mercenaries got in and took my son. All I know is I only just got out this morning. It’s been a hell of a day”.</p><p>        Preston shook his head in sympathy. “Vault-Tec has that kind of reputation around here. Most of those pre-War Vaults were just messed up experiments gone awry. I’ve heard some horror stories. They’re not all like that though, there’s a Vault near Diamond City called Vault 81 that’s apparently pretty stable. We met a trader from there between Quincy and Lexington”.</p><p>        “Vault 81,” Nora nodded. “Maybe I should take a look when I’ve got my son back. You said they weren’t super friendly to outsiders, though?”</p><p>        “Well, you’re another Vault Dweller. Maybe they’ll think of it a little differently. You’ll have to see after you find your son”.</p><p>        There was a moment of silence before Nora could see a wave of realization wash over Preston’s face.</p><p>        “So…you had to be put in the stasis pod and frozen, right? When did they do that?”</p><p>        “Right after we entered the Vault. The day the bombs went off”.</p><p>        Nora could see Preston nearly choke on his own spit. “Wait, what? The day the bombs went off? You don’t look over two-hundred and ten years old!”</p><p>        “Apparently Vault-Tec should have gone into the freezer business,” Nora muttered. She looked away for a moment only to have her eyes fall on Sturges, Jun, and Marcy. All of them had overheard the conversation and were staring at her with visible confusion.</p><p>        “<em>I told you that you’d think I was crazy</em>”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Not Quite Dead, Not Quite Alive</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 3: In which Nora gets a taste of the dangers of the Commonwealth, and has an unexpected encounter with someone she never expected to see again.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>NOT QUITE ALIVE, NOT QUITE DEAD</h1><p>
  <em>“I sat down on the street and took a look at myself/said where you going man you know the world is going to hell/say your goodbyes if you got someone you can say goodbye to” – Matchbox 20 “How Far We’ve Come”</em>
</p><hr/><p>      Nora had bonded a bit with Natalie Rosa in the days before Nate’s return from the war. They were both the wives of soldiers abroad, waiting patiently for their husbands and holding up the home-front in the midst of the Sino-American War. She remembered commiserating with Natalie over the loneliness of deployment and being a bit jealous of Natalie at least having a son to keep her company. After Nate’s return and Nora’s subsequent pregnancy came one of Nora’s favorite memories of Natalie and Thomas Rosa. They had been invited to her baby shower, and brought over several sets of clothes for Shaun to wear once he was born. Thomas had been bored and unengaged, as young boys were wont to be at baby showers, until the reveal that Nora would be having a son. After that, Thomas kept coming over regularly, wanting to know if Shaun had been born ,and if Shaun was ready to play with him yet.</p><p>     Perhaps the presence of so many workshops around the Rosa garage was an insight into the lives of Natalie and Thomas after the war. Despite the devastation, the fighting, and the dying, perhaps they had survived long enough to turn the garage into a post-apocalyptic workstation. It was wishful thinking, but Nora liked to think that the presence of workshops around the Rosa home meant that eventually, Natalie and Thomas were able to adjust to the horrors of the apocalypse. Somewhere in the fabric of time, while Nora and the other Vault residents had been trapped between life and death in cryostasis, Natalie and the other Sanctuary Hill residents left behind had been made to live and die in the world Vault 111 had promised an escape from. Even if they had somehow managed to live long, happy lives, their stories had certainly come to an end before Nora’s return to the world of the living. She tried hard not to think about how it might have ended for them both.</p><p>     She wondered if they were jealous, at any point. She certainly would have been, back then, before she knew what had been waiting for those considered “lucky” enough to be sent to the Vaults.</p><p>     After Preston and the others had settled into Sanctuary, there was a need to set up certain necessities to make the neighborhood livable again. Ms. Rosa’s former home was cleared out of non-essentials. Her backyard became a garden patch. Jun and Marcy set to work repairing the picket fences and setting up crops. They slept in the room which had once been her master bedroom. Mama Murphy and Sturges set up sleeping bags in what had once been her kitchen, after the ruined kitchen counter-tops and cabinets had been cleared away. Its proximity to the front door allowed for Sturges to have easy access to the collapsed home of Natalie Rosa’s former next-door neighbor. Sturges set to work salvaging usable hunks of metal siding to repair the Rosa home, where everyone else slept. Preston contented himself with sleeping in what was once Thomas’s room, and spent his free time on patrol, watching for threats to Sanctuary’s growth.</p><p>     Thanks to the miracle of Stimpaks and Codsworth’s coddling, Nora was back to full strength within two days of the battle with the Deathclaw. While assisting Sturges with setting up a rudimentary water supply for Sanctuary, she learned a thing or two from him about mending power armor. There wasn’t enough spare metal to make full repairs and enhancements to the T-45 power armor. Given that their sole Fusion Core wouldn’t last a second trip to Concord, Nora ultimately opted to let Sturges hang unto the suit and make further improvements to it. When she left Sanctuary, it was with Codsworth by her side, and a full set of boiled leather armor over her Vault Suit, compliments of Sturges.</p><p>     From Sanctuary to Concord, the journey was uneventful. Infrequently, they’d stop at some of the houses on the outskirts of Concord to rummage for extra food or supplies. A few bottles of Nuka-Cola and cans of pork and beans helped to supplement the meager rations that Nora happened to have left what she’d found in Sanctuary the first time. Just after they passed through Concord, they met an older woman walking up the road to Sanctuary accompanied only by a bald, mutated, two-headed cow. The cow was heavily loaded with scrap, foodstuffs, and other items. Nora remembered something about bottlecaps now being used for currency, and pulled out the pouch of bottlecaps that Preston had given her before she left Sanctuary.</p><p>    “Here to trade?” The woman asked.</p><p>    “Sure, let’s see what you’ve got,” Nora replied. After stocking up on some extra Stimpaks and foodstuffs (and trading in a few scraps that the trader seemed to be interested in), Nora decided to take a chance.</p><p>     “Excuse me, what’s your name?”</p><p>     “Huh? Oh. I’m Carla”.</p><p>     “Carla, you travel all around the Commonwealth, right?”</p><p>     “I stay mostly between here and the Drumlin Diner. Sometimes I’ll head into the city to Bunker Hill when I need to re-supply but that’s about it”.</p><p>     Carla eyed Nora from head to toe, examining the blue Vault Suit that marked Nora’s origins.</p><p>     “You oughta be careful, Vault Girl. The wasteland can be pretty dangerous. I’d steer clear of some of the downtown areas if I were you. They’re full of raiders and ghouls and all sorts of nasty things. Wouldn’t want something to happen to a paying customer so soon after your business, eh?”</p><p>     “Ghouls?” Nora looked at Codsworth for a response, but Codsworth apologetically confessed that he all he’d heard about Ghouls was hearsay.</p><p>     “Damn, you’re fresh out of the Vault,” Carla chuckled. “Ghouls are people that used to be human before the radiation rotted their brains out. Then again, it’s not like the rest of them looks any better. They usually like the cities and travel in groups, so if you see one, you’re probably dealing with at least five”.</p><p>     Carla paused for a moment to light a cigarette. “You know, a lot of ghouls are people from before the war. Occasionally, you meet a few who still have their heads on straight despite what the radiation did to their bodies. They’re not super common though, unless you go to Goodneighbor. And let me tell you, you don’t want to go to Goodneighbor”.</p><p>     “I’ll take your word for it,” Nora said, ending her sentence with a nervous gulp. “Nice of you to share some of that information”.</p><p>     “Nice of you to be a paying customer. It won’t always last, Vault Girl. Information isn’t always free. Consider this a free special for first-time customers only. Maybe we do business again after you come back this way for your return trip to your Vault?”</p><p>      “Or maybe,” Carla said, a greedy glint in her eyes, “you tell me where your Vault is and if they’re open to trade? You don’t look like you’re from 81”.</p><p>      “I’m from Vault 111,” Nora said, “and I’m the only person left to trade with besides my son. I’m looking for my son, by the way. You wouldn’t happen to know where Diamond City is?”</p><p>      “Directions,” Carla said, rolling her eyes. “Figures. Last freebie”.</p><p>      She pointed to the south, where Nora could see the skyline on the horizon. “Just keep going until you see the skyline, across the river. You’ll find the ‘Great Green Jewel’ just inside the city limits. As long as you stay away from downtown Lexington and Cambridge, you’re not likely to attract a lot of attention from the ghouls and raiders. Pick up the pace, and maybe you’ll be there by tomorrow morning. Now, if you’re all done, I’d like to finish his cigarette”.</p><p>#</p><p>      The Super-Duper Mart outside of Lexington looked very tempting, though Codsworth and Nora remembered Carla’s warning and kept to the road west of Lexington. They could hear distant gunfire further into the town.</p><p>      “I’ve heard stories about raiders in Lexington, Mum,” Codsworth mentioned as they walked past the city. “Mr. Garvey mentioned that the gang that’s in Lexington nowadays are particularly bloodthirsty”.</p><p>      “I remember Preston talking about it,” Nora said worriedly. When the Quincy settlers had fled what Preston called “the Quincy Massacre”, they had been a group of twenty. At Lexington, they had been whittled down to eight. When Nora came along, they were merely five. The center of Lexington featured a large, towering industrial complex which had once been a Corvega automotive assembly plant before the Great War. Now, it was the palace overseeing the ruins of Lexington. A large band of raiders headed by a man Sturges called Jared made their home in the plant. Preston suspected the detachment of raiders which had cornered the group in the Museum of Freedom were most likely based out of Lexington, under Jared’s control.</p><p>      Much of Lexington’s buildings were concentrated away from the road Nora traveled on, closer to the assembly plant. A few lonely houses were within reach of the road, though Nora ignored the urge to examine these houses in the hopes of passing Lexington first.  Half of those homes had roofs which were at least partially caved-in. One or two looked largely intact. The presumed contents of many of the less held-together homes were, to some extent, strewn out on the lawns and even into the road.</p><p>      Here and there, Codsworth and Nora would pick up a forgotten can of Cram or discarded bottlecap. Codsworth hadn’t completely come around to the concept of bottlecaps being used as currency.</p><p>      “Rubbish,” he mumbled, as Nora picked up an aluminum can.</p><p>      “Aluminum must be hard to come by now,” Nora mumbled. “That Carla lady was selling these cans. I wonder if these are worth anything”.</p><p>      “Are we pack rats now, Mum?” Codsworth said, expressing his annoyance.</p><p>      “Fine,” Nora sighed, dropping the can.</p><p>      It made a loud <em>clunk</em> sound as it hit the pavement and then rolled downhill to the nearest cross-street. The house in front of the spot where the can had rolled to a stop had the door open. Nora heard a faint but unsettling sound. It wasn’t quite like anything else she had ever heard before. The beasts of the Commonwealth all made distinct sounds. Mongrel dogs barked and howled. Mosquitoes and bloatflies buzzed. Deathclaws roared. This sound reminded Nora vaguely of an animal, but if an animal could make distorted talking sounds.</p><p>      Something --- or someone --- crawled out of the front door of the house and stood up on its legs on alert. It was humanoid, but on closer examination the human form had been partially burned away. Where there had once been smooth skin, there were now patches of hardened burned marks and scabs. A couple of fingers were missing from one hand. One hand was barely hanging unto the forearm at all. Most of the thing’s hair had fallen out, with only one or two knots of brunette hair remaining, clumped together in grime and blood.</p><p>      As it turned to face Nora, she could see the tatters of what had once been a light blue dress. One foot was bare, the other was clad in an old boot. Both eyes were bloodshot with dull, almost white irises. The nose was almost gone.</p><p>      “Is that,” Codsworth began to ask. Nora finished his sentence, “…a ghoul”. It, formerly she, looked at the robot and the Vault Dweller. The thing jerked forward unnaturally for a moment, making a sound that sounded vaguely like it was trying to say “…who?” And then suddenly it sprinted forward, making a horrifying shrieking sound as it lunged for them both.</p><p>      “Oh shit!” Nora un-holstered her gun and began shooting, but the ghoul was much too quick. Three bullets all missed before the ghoul woman slammed into Nora, knocking the Vault Dweller down to the pavement.</p><p>      “Mum! We’ve got company!” Codsworth could be heard yelling. Nora expected to see Codsworth intervening with a buzzsaw in response to the attacking ghoul. What she heard instead was the sound of Codsworth's flame-nozzle firing behind her, closer to the house. There were more inhuman shrieks. Nora turned around to see Codsworth being swarmed by another three or four more ghouls of various shapes and sizes. She remembered Carla’s warning: <em>“if you see one, you’re probably dealing with at least five”.</em></p><p>      She staggered to her feet, barely missing another tackle attempt by the first ghoul. Luckily for her, the ghoul wasn’t as smart as it was quick, and the second missed tackle sent the ghoul headlong unto the pavement. Nora took the opportunity to fire two shots into the ghoul before it could get back up a third time, and then turned her attention to Codsworth.</p><p>      “Chop!” Codsworth had set most of the attacking ghouls on fire. The smallest of them had died from the shock, and a second keeled over when Codsworth hit it right over the head with a buzz-saw. The remaining two turned towards Nora and both began to run towards her. Knowing the ghouls were going to be too quick to precisely aim at, Nora instead aimed for their chests and simply began to fire at will.</p><p>      The ghoul on the left staggered back, hit squarely in the chest. Before it could pull itself together and join its last remaining pack-mate, Codsworth’s buzzsaw emerged from behind and popped out of the ghoul’s front torso. Nora wasn’t quick enough to stop the other ghoul from reaching her. Dressed in rusted armor with a more masculine physique, this ghoul was stronger than its counterparts; likely, he had been the leader of the group before their descent into madness. His teeth sunk into Nora’s right forearm. She screamed in pain, trying desperately to shake him off as Codsworth struggled to dislodge the previous ghoul from being impaled on one of his metal arms. Fighting through the pain, she managed to hold the ghoul still as she put her pistol to his head and pulled the trigger. There was a splatter of blood and a feeling of stinging relief as the ghoul’s jaw went slack and released itself from her arm. She whimpered slightly as she picked out one or two loosened teeth from her arm. This wound was going to need to be cleaned.</p><p>      “I don’t have any alcohol or antiseptic,” Nora groaned, injecting a Stimpak into her arm before helping Codsworth pull the ghoul off of himself. She laid that ghoul, another female with some light armor, down on the pavement. The coast seemed to be clear.</p><p>      “Well, that’s that then,” Codsworth said victoriously. “Mum, your arm, are you sure you’re going to be alright?”</p><p>      “The Stim will help,” Nora sighed. “They have antiseptic in them”.</p><p>      “That bite looks ghastly, though”.</p><p>      “I know. We’ll figure something out. Maybe there’s something in the house we can use”.</p><p>      “I shall search post-haste, Mum,” Codsworth said gleefully, before hovering into the house to look for rubbing alcohol. Nora stared down at the ghouls before her, making a mental note to steer clear of them whenever possible. It was difficult to believe that these things had once been human.</p><p>      Her eyes flashed upon the ghoul that Codsworth had stabbed through the chest. The ghoul was wearing a very particular locket that Nora had seen before. Before he’d left for the deployment he never returned from, Mr. Rosa had given his wife Natalie an engraved locket. Nora bent down and opened it up to find a picture of Mr. and Mrs. Rosa staring back at her.</p><p>       “…<em>Natalie</em>?”</p><p>#</p><p>       Codsworth had found nothing of use. Before dusk began to fall on the Commonwealth, Nora and Codsworth had searched the house thoroughly, found nothing capable of cleaning a topical wound, and continued on their way past Lexington and around Cambridge. The skyline was getting closer. They had ultimately reasoned that getting to Diamond City was their best chance at finding proper medicine or a doctor. The rest of the leg of the trip past Lexington had been somber and silent following Nora’s discovery of Natalie’s fate. The littlest ghoul, who’d died when Codsworth defended himself with the flame thrower, was almost certainly Thomas Rosa.</p><p>      “They survived,” Nora sobbed finally, as Cambridge began to fall into view. “I remember seeing them outside the gates of Vault 111 for a split second when Nate and I were running up there. They survived the blast, but they must have gotten horribly burned”.</p><p>      “The Great War was altogether tragic for everyone,” Codsworth said. “I regret ever thinking they were dressed in Halloween costumes”.</p><p>      “Did they ever interact with you after they came down the hill from Sanctuary, Codsworth,” Nora said, “or were they already…?”</p><p>      “They were definitely ghoulified when they came down the hill,” Codsworth said soberly. “They weren’t the only ones either. Many of the residents of Sanctuary were like that. Given the shock of everything and the upcoming holiday and everything…forgive me Mum. I wasn’t thinking”.</p><p>       “But were they... feral?”</p><p>       “I don’t think so, no,” Codsworth said. “They were at their home for a while afterwards, putting up workshops with some of the other survivors. They’d come and go for a while. The stretches of time between when they’d come and go would get further and further apart though. A few decades ago, I’d noticed the behavior change, but I didn’t think anything of it, Mum. I figured maybe they were just passing time with a diversion of some sort, what with young Thomas still not having grown up so many years later. They never spoke to me much, so I didn’t really think anything of it”.</p><p>       “They probably had bigger things on their mind,” Nora sighed. Her fingers inched subconsciously to a pocket where she’d tucked Natalie’s locket. Burying it when they returned to Sanctuary was the only kindness they could give them now. The ghoul bodies were already deteriorating too much for Nora to transport them back to Sanctuary, and that was before giving any consideration to time being of the essence in the search for Shaun. She could only have Codsworth burn the bodies with his flamer as a makeshift cremation before they’d left.</p><p>        There was an awkward silence between Codsworth and Nora for a moment before the robot broke the silent. “Mum, it’s quite the dire mood between us now”.</p><p>       “Things have changed in the world. It’s hard to get used to”.</p><p>       “Maybe we could seek out some sort of distraction?”</p><p>       “I hope you don’t mean charades or checkers again”.</p><p>       “Well no, Mum. Besides, we can’t much play either of those two things while we travel. I was thinking though, that Pip-Boy on your arm contains a radio, doesn’t it? Is there anything pleasant playing at the moment?”</p><p>       She’d never thought to check the radio before. Turning the dials to the radio function on the Pip-Boy, she had the machine scan the airwaves for different radio broadcasts. Three distinct choices appeared.</p><p>       Classical Radio. Diamond City Radio. Military Frequency AF95. The classical station played just that: classical music. Codsworth was almost forlorn when Nora changed the dial to see what Diamond City was playing.</p><p>       “Betty Hutton sounds like she sure is mad about…some guy. Here’s her song…” a nervous voice spoke on the DJ, before the first riffs of Betty Hutton’s <em>It’s a Man </em>began to echo from the Pip-Boy speakers.</p><p>       “New DJ?” Nora questioned.</p><p>       “Lad could certainly use more practice. Mum, I know Diamond City Radio obviously comes from Diamond City, but did the Pip-Boy specify where the classical station was based from?”</p><p>       “Signal’s coming in pretty clear,” Nora noted, looking out at Cambridge. “But it doesn’t say, so for now we can’t be sure”.</p><p>        She looked down at her Pip-Boy. “What’s this Military Frequency?”</p><p>        “It may not be a bad thing to check, Mum. We should always be up to date on the news”.</p><p>        Nora turned the dial to select the last station.</p><p>        “<em>--- to any unit within transmission range. Authorization Arx. Ferrum. Nine. Five. Our unit has sustained casualties and we’re running low on supplies. We’re requesting support or evac from our position at Cambridge Police Station…”</em></p><p>        “I wonder how old this is,” Nora said.</p><p>        “It’s still broadcasting, Mum. It’s probably at least somewhat recent”.</p><p>        “It’s an automated message though. Look, Codsworth, it’s playing on a loop. <em>Scribe</em> Haylen? What kind of rank is that?”</p><p>        “If it’s a military transmission, it probably wouldn’t hurt to check. Who knows, Mum. It may not hurt to get the authorities involved in our missing person search”.</p><p>        “I get the feeling if a military unit is requesting support from Cambridge that they’re probably concerned with a lot of things. Would they have time for a missing baby?” Nora sighed. “Besides, that’s just proof Cambridge is just as bad off as Lexington. We’re better taking the back roads until we hit the river". That was meant to be the plan, of course, but as Nora and Codsworth passed by what Nora could distinctly recognize as the block behind the station, she noticed very recently placed fortifications. There was gunfire and yelling in the distance. They could also hear what sounded vaguely like more ghoul shrieks.</p><p>        “Mum, it sounds like they’re in active distress!” Nora hesitated, looking down the road at the skyline and the relative calm. Beyond the gate leading to the police station, there was no telling what fresh hell they would run into. Her arm was still aching from the bite that she had sustained earlier.</p><p>         "Fuck it,” she groaned. She began reloading her 10mm pistol.</p><p>         Diamond City would have to wait.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Civil Service</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 4: In which Nora gets acquainted with a rag-tag group of soldiers in Cambridge.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>CIVIL SERVICE</h1><p>
  <em>“When I was a man, I thought it ended/when I knew love’s perfect ache/But my peace has always depended/on the ashes in my wake”. – Hozier “Arsonist’s Lullaby”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            “Godless freaks! Send them back to hell!”</p><p>            The gate protecting the back end of the police station was hastily put up. Nora figured she would be able to climb it without much issue. It was a tremendous shock to instead find that Codsworth was able to open the door with ease --- it had been unlocked the whole time.</p><p>            <em>That’s dangerous. Why would they have it open like that?</em></p><p>The front plaza before the police station was positively swarming with feral ghouls. Several military-grade laser beams could be seen discharging from various points of the police station. While still under the cover of the alleyway, Nora aimed her pistol and began to shoot, knocking down two ghouls before any of the other monsters noticed her. Feeling brave, she moved forward into the open air and kept shooting, with Codsworth keeping close and protecting her from any ghoul attempting to lunge.</p><p>            Nora caught a glimpse of the military force which had placed the distress signal. Another surprise: there were only three soldiers. One male and one female were closer to the doorway of the police station, firing off laser pistols. The female had a hood and cap covering her hair, and a vest containing many pockets. The male sported a shaved head and a rather serious looking injury, sitting slumped back against the wall of the doorway, still holding his arms out in front of him and shooting ghouls with impressive accuracy.</p><p>            A second man was on the frontlines of the courtyard. Unlike the other two soldiers, this man sported a full set of T-60 power armor, and was mowing down ghouls at an impeccable rate.</p><p>            “Civilian in the perimeter!” He yelled, as soon as he saw Nora. He seemed extremely surprised to see her. “Check your fire!”</p><p>            Nora kept her back to one of the barricades surrounding the front of the police and continued to fire. The front barricade was built with more care than the back gate, forcing the ghouls to pool into the compound through two choke points at the entryway.</p><p>            “Shit, Codsworth! The gate!” She didn’t want to take the chance of causing the plaza to be flooded any worse than it already was, even though there hadn’t been any ghouls around the back of the building.</p><p>            “Right-o, Mum!”</p><p>            As Codsworth went to close the gate from whence he and Nora had entered, Nora spied a set of stairs leading to the upper portion of the barricade and climbed them. There were about ten to fifteen more ghouls clamoring behind the group entering the choke-point. Stopping them before they could get through would leave the soldiers with less to deal with, and the elevated platform gave her a spot to shoot from safely.</p><p>            Bang! A ghoul went down. Bang! Another. Bang! A third shot hit the leg of another ghoul, severing that leg from the rest of the ghoul’s body and causing it to topple uselessly to the ground. One less problem. Even better, Nora could hear Codsworth close the gate and return to one of the entryways to mow down the remaining ghouls from the front. She could only hope the soldiers would be as careful with their fire around him as they were with her.</p><p>            When the swarm of ghouls had been controlled, she fell to her knees. Who knew the apocalypse could be so exhausting? The man in power armor wasted no time in going over to her.</p><p>            “We appreciate the assistance, civilian, but what’s your business here?”</p><p>            “Ugh, just a second,” Nora winced, getting back up. “Sorry,” she added, “not quite used to that just yet”.</p><p>            Gruff as the power-armor clad soldier was, he nodded and waited a moment for her to catch her breath and step down from the platform to the ground. Once she was situated, however, he immediately resumed his gruff demeanor.</p><p>            “Why are you here, civilian?”</p><p>            “Why am I here? I heard your radio signal, asking for help”.</p><p>            She switched her Pip-Boy radio back on, and Scribe Haylen’s repeating message played clearly. The female soldier, presumably said Scribe, beamed a little. The two men were not as impressed.</p><p>            “Follow up question, civilian. How’d you get into the compound without us noticing? You didn’t exactly utilize the front entryway”.</p><p>            “The gate was unlocked,” Nora said innocently.</p><p>            “Actually,” Codsworth added in, “upon further examination I’m afraid I’ve found that the gate was in disrepair, Mum. I’m sorry Mum, but I couldn’t get it to close properly when you’d asked. I imagine these soldiers wouldn’t mind hearing”.</p><p>            “Bullshit,” the man laying by the doorway said.</p><p>            “Actually, we never had a chance to properly reinforce that alleyway, sir,” the female soldier said to the man in power armor. If there was any doubt as to who was in charge around here, it was dispelled now. “We’ve had incident after incident here. Knight Keane was meant to inspect the gate today but…” her voice trailed off.</p><p>            The three soldiers all looked to another section of the barricade platforms, and Nora could see the figure of a fourth soldier she hadn’t noticed before in all the chaos. A couple of feral ghouls had made it up to the platform and contended with him before Nora’s arrival.</p><p>            “Very well,” the leader of the group said. “Civilian, I have more questions. If you wish to remain on our compound, I suggest you answer them truthfully”.</p><p>            He looked at her outfit carefully. “I’ve heard there’s a Vault in operation near here, to the south. That must be where you’re from. Vault 81, correct?”</p><p>            “I’ve never been there,” Nora said, before turning around so the man could see the number on the back of her suit. “I’m from Vault 111. It’s actually north of here, near Sanctuary Hills”.</p><p>            “Not many people would be so direct with that information. I appreciate your honesty”. For a moment, the man’s face softened. He’d made the decision to go ahead and formally introduce himself.</p><p>            “I’m Paladin Danse, with the Brotherhood of Steel. Over there are Scribe Haylen and Knight Rhys. We’re on recon duty, but I’m down a man and our supplies are running low. I’ve been trying to send a distress call to our superiors, but the signal’s too weak to reach them”.</p><p>            “Sir, if I may,” Scribe Haylen interrupted. “I’ve modified the radio tower on the roof of the police station, but I’m afraid it just isn’t enough. What we need is something that will boost the signal”.</p><p>            Danse turned his attention from Haylen and Rhys back to Nora. “What do you say, civilian? You willing to lend the Brotherhood of Steel a hand?”</p><p>#</p><p>            “Re-supply immediately. I’d like to get this over with. You’re the first civilian we’ve invited into the compound on account of your generosity, civilian. I hope you appreciate the degree of leniency we’re affording you”.</p><p>            “Do you have any disinfectant or bandages?” Nora asked.</p><p>            “Great, I knew this was going to end with the civ’ asking for a handout,” Rhys groaned. He was lying on a sleeping bag near the center of the lobby. Haylen was busy patching up his wounds.</p><p>            “I’m sorry,” Haylen apologized. “I’d help patch you up but I have to take care of him first”.</p><p>            “I understand,” Nora sighed. “I can take care of it myself. I’m just low on bandages.</p><p>            <em>And disinfectant, but I’m probably already asking them a lot.</em></p><p>Haylen pulled a roll of bandages from one of her hundred-fold pockets so that Nora could dress her wound. With Codsworth, Nora went off to the side and used some purified water from Codsworth’s condensation tank to clean the bite wound from the ghouls in Lexington. When she was all patched up, she took some spare fusion cells that Danse had set aside for her. Given that she was running low on 10mm ammunition, it was time to switch to the laser musket that she’d picked up back in Concord.</p><p>            “That weapon seems a bit unconventional,” Danse muttered. “Are you confident in its abilities?”</p><p>            “Well, it’s all I have that uses fusion cells, so it’s going to have to do,” Nora sighed.</p><p>            “Can’t believe a travelling Vault Dweller wouldn’t think to carry more ammunition. No wonder you people don’t last long outside the Vault,” Rhys interjected. While Danse scowled, Nora chose to just ignore him.</p><p>            “Alright, you said you wanted to do this sooner rather than later, Paladin? I’m as ready as I’m going to get”.</p><p>            “Outstanding, civilian,” Danse said as he donned the helmet for his T-60 suit. “Follow me, and try not to get left behind”.</p><p>#</p><p>            To avoid the mass of ghouls infesting Cambridge, Danse had opted to lead Nora and Codsworth through the broken gate behind the police station. Rather than go further south, they traveled west, following the river bank. Nora had meant to use the traveling time to ask Danse a few questions of her own, but the Paladin spent much of the time travelling to ArcJet Systems debriefing her on the nature of the reconnaissance squad’s mission in the Commonwealth.</p><p>            Apparently, the Brotherhood of Steel weren’t from the Commonwealth, but from a place Danse called the Capital Wasteland. Logically, it wasn’t difficult for Nora to deduce that the Capital Wasteland was the post-apocalyptic name for the area that had once been Washington D.C. Given that Nora hadn't seen any mechanized methods of travel in the wasteland, she imagined that must have been a hell of a trip --- or that the Capital Wasteland was more advanced than the still-ruined Commonwealth.</p><p>            The Arc-Jet systems building was surprisingly deserted. Given the relative lack of enemies waiting for them on the outside, Nora and Codsworth suspected an easy retrieval job.</p><p>            “Our operations rarely go that smooth,” Danse warned. “And you should know most buildings are dangerous in their own right anyway, regardless of the initial appearance. I take it you haven’t been out of the Vault long, civilian”.</p><p>            “You’re… surprisingly astute,” Nora responded, although she secretly wondered to herself if it were really that obvious.</p><p>            “Using the word ‘astute’ in a sentence,” Danse said smugly. “You really are a Vault Dweller”. They came to the security office after walking through the abandoned front lobby. Destroyed robots riddled the room, their exposed circuits infrequently discharging electric sparks. The damage was outrageously recent. Someone had just been here.</p><p>            “Look at the evidence,” Danse said alertly. “There isn’t a single spent ammunition casing or drop of blood in sight”.</p><p>            He looked back at Nora ominously. “These robots were assaulted by Institute synths”.</p><p>            “Institute…who?” Nora asked.</p><p>            “Outstanding,” Danse said sarcastically. “You really don’t know about the Institute?”</p><p>            “No. I’m afraid I don’t,” Nora sighed. She looked at Codsworth for clarification but got nothing in response.</p><p>            “The Institute are a group of scientists who went underground when the Great War started. They’ve sent the last few decades littering the Commonwealth with their technological nightmares. These “synths” --- <em>abominations</em> --- were meant to “improve” upon humanity. If you ask me, it’s unacceptable. They shouldn’t be allowed to exist”.</p><p>            “So they’re…some sort of cyborg robot, then? They look like humans?”</p><p>            “They’re a threat, civilian. Keep your safety off”.</p><p>            Despite the ominous warning from Danse, the next two rooms were empty. The group were faced with a dead-end in one of the workshops, stuck between the corridor from whence they came and a locked door. Danse commanded Nora to find a way to get the door opened while he stood guard.</p><p>            The bobby-pin trick wouldn’t work on a high-end security door installed to safeguard Arc-Jet’s technical workshops. Nora would have to find a computer terminal that would unlock the door remotely. She wasn’t particularly confident about hacking the main terminal on the desk on the other end of the room, but was surprised to see an “update your password” message.</p><p>            <em>It can’t be that easy.</em></p><p>It was. Another terminal on a different desk reassigned her a new password, which Nora then used to open the main security door.</p><p>            “Paladin, I’ve go—”</p><p>            She heard a robotic voice speak next, and looked up to see a plastic humanoid standing up and looking at her.</p><p>            “Oh shi—”</p><p>            “You must be terminated,” the robot said, aiming what looked like a laser rifle up at Nora and firing. She barely managed to duck out of the way, seeing a blue laser beam firing behind her in the distance in contrast to the red lasers that came standard on most laser weaponry.</p><p>            “Light ‘em up!” Danse cried out, firing with full prejudice into the room with the synths as Nora charged up a shot on her laser musket. There was the cracking of several laser shots as Danse and the synth exchanged fire. When Nora ran towards the front of the room to take a shot, she found that Danse had already cleared the room.</p><p>            There had actually been three synths in the room that Nora had just unlocked. All of them were featureless, unclothed, plastic humanoids with glowing yellow eyes.</p><p>            <em>Oh my god, he wasn’t exaggerating</em>.</p><p>            “C’mon civilian,” Danse said, rushing ahead. “If the synths are here, we need to find the transmitter before they do!” The next several rooms were swarming with synths. One synth-less section of the building, where most of the laboratories were, was filled with turrets instead. Danse stormed through the facility with Nora and Codsworth trailing behind him, leaving a trail of broken robots in his path. Occasionally, Nora would manage to charge up her musket in time to knock out a synth or two amidst the crowd. In the room with the automated turret systems, Nora had managed to find the security terminal and shut the system down before Danse had shot out every single turret.</p><p>            “We’re almost there, civilian,” Danse advised her, as they neared the engine core room. “The transmitter can’t be too far away”.</p><p>            When they opened the door to the engine core room, they were greeted with descending steps and near total darkness. Danse turned on his T-60 headlamp and Nora turned on the flashlight on her Pip-Boy. Once they made it to the bottom of the stairs, Nora was instructed by Danse to head into the control room and see if she could find a way to restore the power. There were workshops where the technicians of Arc-Jet had worked in the past, an observation room for testing the engine core suspended from the ceiling, and a back room containing a generator with a fusion core and a power switch. When she realized the fusion core was unrelated to the auxiliary switch, Nora took it out of the generator it was in and stored it away for later use. She flipped the auxiliary power switches and began heading back to Danse.</p><p>            Within seconds, she heard the sounds of extensive gunfire. The observation window revealed a horrifying scene of Danse being swarmed by synths, apparently dropping from the ceiling.</p><p>            <em>Where did they all come from?!</em></p><p>            She ran through the observation corridor and began charging and firing her musket in repeated volleys, trying to take out as many synths as she could to help Danse. There were far more synths than there had been ghouls at the police station, however. Every time Nora or Danse shot one down, it seemed like two more fell from the ceiling to take its place.</p><p>            “Civilian!”</p><p>            Nora yelled back in the chaos, as loudly as possible, “what?!”</p><p>            “The engine core!”</p><p>            “What about it?” She asked as she fired off another round.</p><p>            “Lock the door to the observation room and fire up the engine!”</p><p>            “What?! You’ll be cooked alive!”</p><p>            “I’ll manage! Lock yourself in!”</p><p>            “But—”</p><p>            “JUST DO IT!”</p><p>            With no other choice, Nora ran back to the observation room. A couple of synths rushed after her, but were either stopped by Codsworth or the observation hallway doors closing as Nora sealed off the corridor.</p><p>            She could hear the roar of the engine core firing up. The test rockets suspended above the room began to surge to life. Danse was still contending with a crowd of synths, trying to physically fight them off as he ran out of time to reload. Suddenly, as the rockets fired, she saw Danse push himself backwards and drop to the floor.</p><p>            There was a blinding flash of light and a surge of heat so strong that Nora could feel it from the relative safety of the locked corridor. When it was over, she hurriedly looked up at the engine room. No one was left standing.</p><p>            She unsealed the door and ran for Danse.</p><p>            “Are you alright?!”</p><p>            Surprisingly, he spoke back. “Got…cooked by those flames, but… thanks to my power armor I’m in one piece”.</p><p>            The synths which had been attacking Danse hadn’t been so lucky. Danse, Nora, and Codsworth all spent a short period gathering up usable fusion cells for a resupply of ammunition before Danse pointed to the elevator.</p><p>            “You got it working. Let’s head up to the top”.</p><p>#</p><p>            There were only four more synths in the last room, near the service elevator leading up to the surface. After making short work of them, Danse and Nora found one particular synth in possession of the transmitter which they had came for.</p><p>            “We’re done here,” Danse smiled contentedly. “Time to go”.</p><p>            When they took the elevator to the top, Nora felt a surge of dizziness overcome her. It had been another tiring day. She chalked it up to exhaustion as the elevator reached its destination and everyone stepped (or hovered) outside.</p><p>            “Well, that could have gone smoother,” Danse said, “but still…mission accomplished”.</p><p>            “Smoother?” Nora asked, almost insulted.</p><p>            “That sweep was sloppy. We were caught unprepared more than once, which is unacceptable”. He took off his helmet, and Nora noticed his face softened a bit. “However, it’s refreshing to work with a civilian who can follow orders properly. I’m not sure I could have handled this mission alone”.</p><p>            Extending his hand, his demeanor went back to the usual gruff attitude. “Now, I believe we have two important matters to discuss. Firstly, if you’ll hand over the transmitter, I’d like to compensate you for your assistance during this mission”.</p><p>            She handed him the transmitter before adding, “I didn’t do this for payment. I came to help, remember?”</p><p>            “Be that as it may, the Brotherhood insists on paying its debts. Therefore, I must insist you take this compensation”.</p><p>            He reached across his back and pulled out a different rifle. “This is my own personal modification of the Brotherhood laser rifle. I believe you may find it more useful than that low-grade musket you’re currently carrying. Certainly, it has a faster rate of fire. May it serve you well in battle”.</p><p>            She took the weapon from him. “Thank you… and the second thing?”</p><p>            He looked at her for a moment, almost nervously, before continuing, “secondly, we had a lot thrown at us back there, but you kept your cool and handled yourself like a soldier. I know you’re a Vault Dweller that hasn’t been out in the world too long, but I’d like to make you a proposal”.</p><p>            “There’s no doubt in my mind that you’ve got what it takes. Civilian, I’d like to formally invite you to join the Brotherhood of Steel”.</p><p>            Nora was speechless.</p><p>            “I…I really don’t know what to say”. She felt the feeling of light-headedness again. Nervousness? Awe?</p><p>            No, something wasn’t quite right. She thought of Shaun for a moment, and how her search for a missing baby might impede any military obligations. Her mind was quickly drawn back to her arm injury. The wound seemed to be throbbing now. Danse took notice.</p><p>            “On second thought,” he added, “let’s hold that thought. Let’s get you to the police station for a follow-up and have Haylen take a good look at you. I can’t leave you here like this in good conscience”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. A Diamond In The Rough</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chapter 5: In which Nora finally makes it to Diamond City for the first time.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH</h1><p>
  <em>“Nobody move, there’s blood on the floor/and I can’t find my heart./Where did it go? Did I leave it in the cold?/So please give it back, ‘cuz it’s not yours to take”. – Thundercat “Them Changes”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            Pine air-fresheners brought back memories of a much younger Nate. When they’d first met in college, Nora only remembered Nate as a lug-headed jock who sat behind her in their Intro to Speech class. He had average grades, sometimes skipped class, and got through the projects and finals because his charisma overshadowed his intelligence. The first time she really had any contact with him was when the battery had died in her car. Nate happened to be nearby and offered up his jumper cables. Unfortunately, the car still needed to be towed, though he’d stayed with her long enough to wait for the tow-truck, and given her a ride home after that. His car <em>reeked</em> of pine air-freshener.</p><p>            A week later, he stopped her after class and asked her if she’d like to grab a coffee with him. Nora had taken the offer more out of boredom than anything else, but somewhere along the way she’d found his smooth-talking ways and his surprising altruism interesting. If nothing else, college-aged Nora could definitely say that Nate was the nicest person she knew. Interest turned to friendship, and friendship blossomed into romance. By the time they married in 2074, Nora had long considered Nate the most important man in her life. Her only condition when he proposed was that he promise to lay off of the obnoxious air freshener.</p><p>            The turpentine that Scribe Haylen was working with, in her own little run-down room in the police station, smelled strongly of pine. Nora’s mind inevitably trailed to Nate. The moments between their entry into the Vault, his murder, and her re-entry to the surface all felt like mere minutes from her perspective. She wondered at what exact point in her lost two-hundred and ten years it was that the man with the gun had taken him away from her. A stinging sensation to the bite wound from Lexington broke Nora out of her semi-conscious stupor. Scribe Haylen was busy coating her wound with some sort of antiseptic.</p><p>            “Well, welcome back civilian,” Haylen said pleasantly. “Are you feeling any better?”</p><p>            “I…ugh,” Nora groaned. “When did we get back from Arc-Jet?”</p><p>            “She’s awake!” Haylen yelled. Nora noticed they were in one of the police station back rooms.  She could hear footsteps as Knight Rhys walked over.</p><p>            “How long was I out?”</p><p>            “Don’t worry, you made it back to the station on your own two feet,” Haylen smirked. “You were a bit feverish though. Once you sat down in the lobby, you were pretty much unconscious. Rhys and I had to bring you into this interrogation room so you’d have some privacy while you rested”.</p><p>             She continued, “You know, ghoul bites can be pretty nasty. Paladin Danse said you haven’t been out on the surface too long. I hope you don’t mind that I went through your supplies. I had to use some spare cloth you had to make a cold cloth. Your fever was starting to get high”.</p><p>             “I can’t believe you don’t carry any medicine but Stimpaks,” Rhys muttered. “I thought Vault Dwellers were supposed to be well-educated about that kind of thing”.</p><p>             “Rhys!”</p><p>             “What? It’s true. If you took better care of yourself, we wouldn’t have needed Scribe Haylen to babysit you all night”. Nora gulped a little bit. Inconveniencing the soldiers when they obviously already looked down on her for being a civilian and a Vault Dweller was the last thing she wanted to do.</p><p>              “I’m sorry,” she sighed. “I came to help and wound up making more problems”.</p><p>              “Rhys!” Haylen scowled, before looking back at Nora reassuringly. “That’s not true y’know. You helped Paladin Danse get that transmitter for us from Arc-Jet. Your robot helped me install it unto the radio beacon. We’ve already contacted our superiors in the Capital Wasteland for further instructions and support. I can’t even begin to describe how much good that’s done for us”.</p><p>              She raised her voice a bit louder to mock Rhys, “and I think it’s perfectly reasonable for us to let you sleep off a fever in an unused room in exchange!”</p><p>              “You still had to watch over me though,” Nora mumbled.</p><p>              “Not as much as Rhys insinuates. Ignore him. I peeked in on you once or twice and I had to go digging through the garage for turpentine to make antiseptic. I wasn’t running in here all night. Your robot monitored you for the worst of it. I promise you weren’t that bad!”</p><p>              She looked at Nora a bit more sternly. “Now, with that being said, I’m going to agree with Knight Rhys that you definitely need to learn how to take better care of yourself when you travel. Paladin Danse mentioned you haven’t been out in the Wasteland that long. It can be pretty unforgiving, especially for someone who didn’t grow up in it like I did. I’m going to show you how to distill antiseptic from turpentine when you’re completely back on your feet so this doesn’t happen to you again”.</p><p>              “And maybe keep your mitts out of ghoul mouths,” Rhys added, causing Haylen to start arguing with him again.</p><p>#</p><p>            After Nora had gotten a chance to wake up and wash up a bit, she wandered into the lobby of the police station to find Codsworth making breakfast for the soldiers.</p><p>            “Ah, Mum! You’re up. We’ve got fresh Mirelurk crab-cakes, just flambéed by yours truly. My apologies for the lack of seasoning. It’s a bit difficult to find proper spices these days. At least Mr. Rhys manag—”</p><p>            “<em>Knight</em> Rhys,” Rhys scowled.</p><p>            “My apologies, <em>Knight,” </em>Codsworth quickly said. “At least Knight Rhys managed to find us fresh seafood”.</p><p>            “Well, you made dragging that monster from the river to the police station worth it, robot, I’ll give you that”.</p><p>            “Civilian,” Danse hollered, “your robot has a marked talent for culinary work. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted mirelurk that was this good before. Is this a Vault recipe?”</p><p>            “Actually,” Codsworth answered, “this is my first time working with Mirelurk. It’s not too far off of crab meat. I’d like to think my taste sensors haven't completely burned out yet”.</p><p>            “It’s nice to get freshly made food. I hate rationing out Fancy Lad Snack Cakes between the three of us,” Haylen grinned, munching on a crab cake. She looked up at Nora and winked. “You’ll <em>never</em> guess who loves them best…”</p><p>            “I’m surprised at how long Mr. Handy units operate with good maintenance,” Danse nodded. “Is he an heirloom?”</p><p>            “My husband set him up”.</p><p>            “And why are you out here and not with him?” Rhys questioned, replacing insults with interest.</p><p>            “Well…” Nora sighed. Haylen and Rhys raised their eyebrows for a moment. The only sound that could be heard for a moment afterwards was the hum of Codsworth’s atomic engine, before Danse lucidly said, “<em>let’s change the subject</em>”.</p><p>            He looked directly at Nora. “I never caught your name, and honestly, it’s probably rude calling you civilian after you’ve proven your worth”.</p><p>            “Nora Mulyer”.</p><p>            She wasn’t sure if this was an interrogation, or Danse’s attempt to make polite conversation over crab-cakes. The way in which he asked questions made Nora wonder if he were trying to open up a military file on her. Her mind flashed back to the offer he’d made to her at the Arc-Jet bunker before she’d began to feel particularly unwell.</p><p>            “Vault 111 is to the north of here, yes? Near the Sanctuary Hills neighborhood? That’s a bit of a walk. Where are you heading?”</p><p>            “Diamond City,” Nora replied. “Hey…speaking of, you guys do reconnaissance in the Commonwealth for the Brotherhood, right? You could probably give me better directions?”</p><p>            “You’re not far away from it, actually,” Haylen nodded, passing Nora a crab-cake. “We catch a trader or two from there occasionally. You know that road in front of the police station where all the ghouls came from? Turn right when you leave the police station grounds until you hit the drawbridge over the river. A boat got wedged between the drawbridge when the bombs hit --- you can’t miss it. From there, you’ll have to go straight until you hit the outskirts of the city. I don’t have better directions than that, but there are guards posted on the fringes of Diamond City territory. You’ll hit at least one guard post if you go far enough, and I can’t imagine they can’t help you from there”.</p><p>            “Raiders use that boat for toll collection,” Rhys mentioned. “Though they’re usually too hopped up on chems to bother you as long as you cross quickly”.</p><p>            He looked expectantly at Danse. “I’m surprised we haven’t paid them a visit, yet”.</p><p>            “Until command gives us further instructions, it’s not a good idea to go looking for trouble,” Danse replied. “We don’t have any need to enter Diamond City anyway”.</p><p>            “You’ll probably want us to walk our ‘new friend’ across the bridge though, so the raiders don’t get her,” Rhys scoffed.</p><p>            Danse was silent for a moment before looking back at Nora.</p><p>            “As a civilian ally, you’re free to remain at the police station and seek shelter here, Mrs. Mulyer, as long as you don’t get in the way of Brotherhood operations. I can extend this offer to you between now until when we get further support from command. However, your business in Diamond City is your own. I can’t spare any men or time getting you across the bridge”.</p><p>            Haylen scowled a bit, while Rhys grinned. Danse suddenly added, “<em>however</em>…”</p><p>            “…the raiders are usually less active right before sunrise. It’s a bit too late for that today, and Scribe Haylen recommended you spend one more day in recovery. Leave before daybreak tomorrow morning, and you should be safe”.</p><p>            <em>So, the metal man has a good side</em>, Nora thought, smirking to herself. She looked back at the three soldiers. They all looked back at her expectantly.</p><p>            “Y’know,” Haylen added, “Danse did mention that offer only stood based on your status as a civilian ally”.</p><p>            “Wait, are we serious about inviting her in to join?” Rhys asked.</p><p>            Danse nodded. “That’s right. We never got a chance to discuss this further at Arc-Jet. I definitely believe you’ve got what it takes to be a fine addition to the Brotherhood of Steel. Given that we’re as short-handed as we are right now, I could bring you on immediately as an Initiate. If you’re ready to stop going from place to place looking for a handout or an opportunity to help, and you’re ready to make your mark on the world, then I think your decision should be clear”.</p><p>            “Mum?” It was Codsworth that spoke next, after a moment. “Mum, you haven’t said anything”. Nora snapped out of her trance. The three Brotherhood soldiers were all still looking at her expectantly. Haylen and Rhys were beginning to look a bit impatient, while Danse remained stoic, patiently waiting for an answer.</p><p>            “I don’t think she has the guts to join up,” Rhys said, finishing his crab-cake.</p><p>            "It's a bit decision, so I understand your hesitation," Danse added.</p><p>            “You’re turning down a tremendous opportunity if you say no,” Haylen advised.</p><p>            “I,” Nora said softly, “I…can’t”.</p><p>            With the exception of Codsworth, everyone looked at her with some level of surprise. Danse’s expression remained somewhat muted, with only a raised eyebrow.</p><p>            “See? I told you,” Rhys mentioned. Haylen attempted to remain somewhat sympathetic, asking “What’s so important about Diamond City?”</p><p>            “Well,” Nora explained, getting everyone's attention, “it’s the only lead I have to finding my missing son”.</p><p>#</p><p>            The night was spent with Nora packing her things and getting a lesson on brewing up antiseptic from Haylen. After a good night’s rest, she got up the next morning before daybreak and headed to the front of the police station. She was noticeably surprised to see Danse, Haylen, and Rhys all waiting for her at the front door.</p><p>            “We wanted to see you off,” Haylen smiled. “The road to Diamond City isn’t too long from here”.</p><p>            “You’re finally leaving,” Rhys mumbled. “I was starting to think we were stuck with you”.</p><p>            They opened the door and walked with her out to the courtyard of the police station. All of the ghoul bodies had been moved outside of the courtyard and burned. A second, smoldering pyre lay off to the side, within the courtyard limits and assembled with more care, for the deceased Knight who had died before Nora had reached Cambridge for the first time.</p><p>            “I hope you find your son, civili—, <em>Mrs. Mulyer</em>,” Danse said finally. “Good luck out there”. Once she left the boundaries of the police station, she was alone again with just Codsworth. When Paladin Danse had mentioned that Nora would be on her own outside of the police compound, he’d meant it.</p><p>            He’d also meant his observation about the raiders occupying the stranded ship under the drawbridge. Nora noticed that one sole raider was present on the furthest side of the ship, looking away from the bridge. The other raiders were likely on the inside of the ship, sleeping off the effects of chems and alcohol. Quietly, Nora climbed over the makeshift ladders joining the two sides of the drawbridge together. Once she and Codsworth made it to the other side, they ran ahead into the city. Diamond City wasn’t far now.</p><p>#</p><p>            The streets beyond the drawbridge were largely deserted. Nora feared the presence of ghouls lurking behind every corner of every alleyway, much like the nasty surprise she’d gotten outside Lexington. The heart of what had once been downtown Boston was still a fair distance away. How half of the ruined skyscrapers were even standing was a mystery Nora hoped she wouldn’t have to answer any time soon.</p><p>            As she approached the area surrounding Fenway Park, she noticed a conspicuously placed sign with an arrow and two concentric diamond shapes.</p><p>            “Mum, you don’t suppose this is a message?”</p><p>            “It’s a signpost,” Nora said with relief. “This must point the way to Diamond City”. There were no guards visible yet, but Nora thought of Shaun as she relished the thought of being close to the largest city in the Commonwealth. Shaun, or at least his kidnappers, had definitely passed through here at some point. She was certain of it. She wondered if he were not that far away at all, waiting for her just on the other side of some door in Diamond City somewhere. She also wondered if he was still a baby, or if he’d grown into a school-aged child. Perhaps he was even a teenager.</p><p>            What kind of standard of living did he have in this Wasteland? Did he live in fear of ghouls like she did these days? How good was his education? Could he at least hope to learn to read or learn a basic trade? Did he look more like Nora, or like Nate?</p><p>            As Nora pushed closer to Diamond City’s entrance, more signs were visible. Some were as simplistic as the first sign that she and Codsworth had stumbled upon: two concentric diamonds and another arrow. Others were more descriptive, extolling the commodities available in Diamond City.</p><p>            <em>Purified water. Electricity. Protected by the Wall.</em></p><p>            “It sounds like a veritable utopia compared to the rest of the Commonwealth, Mum,” Codsworth mused. Nora wasn’t so sure. If it was really that perfect, people like the settlers in Sanctuary would have sought safe haven here rather than taking their chances further north. Furthermore, Nora could hear the faint crack of gunshots up ahead as they inched closer to the city. She was now noticing what were very clearly guard posts around certain alleyways and at one of the main gates into the outside of Fenway Park. Where were all the guards? She drew the laser rifle Danse had given her and disengaged the safety.</p><p>            As she entered one of the gates, she saw several guards dressed in baseball helmets and catcher’s armor engaged in a gunfight with some unknown entities. A giant green beast lay dead a few feet forward, by a ruined house. It looked like a mutated dog.</p><p>            It <em>was</em> a mutated dog. Nora could hear a strange, mutated voice screaming from the house the guards were shooting at. “Gonna splatter your brains!” Green, mutated humans with guns were shooting back at the guards. Aiming the rifle carefully, Nora decided to be helpful again and begin shooting. Danse’s gift was an incredibly powerful gun; the first crack of the laser tore through the mutant’s shoulder, eliciting a warped scream of pain.</p><p>            “Damn!” One of the guards said, “not afraid of mutants, are ya? You’re our kinda gal!”</p><p>            She fired off a few more shots at the mutant, noticing that it was one of three or four more of its kind inhabiting the house. When the firefight cleared and the Diamond City guards began to head back to their posts, Nora followed the one that had complimented her.</p><p>            “Hey,” he laughed, sporting a strong Bostonian accent. “I’m posted outside the city. You look like you’re heading inside”.</p><p>            “Where’s inside, exactly?”</p><p>            “First-timer, eh Vault Girl? Alright, I’ll bite. See that statue over there?” He pointed to a statue of a baseball player placed in the middle of the courtyard outside Fenway Park. “The gate to Diamond City is right by that statue. Ya head up there. If it’s not open, use the intercom. Tell em’ John vouched for ya at the gate, not that you’ll need it”.</p><p>            “Finally,” Codsworth said cheerfully as they followed the guard’s directions. “We’re finally back in the midst of society again. It’s been far too long”.</p><p>            The gate was indeed closed. Nora remembered the guard’s instruction to use the intercom, but was surprised to see a woman in a red trenchcoat already speaking to one of the interior guards.</p><p>            “Ugh, whaddya mean you can’t let me into the city, Danny? I’m standing out here in the open for crying out loud!”</p><p>            Danny’s dejected voice responded to her from over the intercom. “I’m sorry Piper, but I’ve got orders not to let you inside. Mayor McDonough’s really steamed, saying that article you wrote was all lies. The whole city’s in a tizzy”.</p><p>            “Ugh!” Piper yelled. “You open this door right now Danny Sullivan! I live here! You can’t just lock me out!”</p><p>            <em>Talk about a hell of an eviction notice.</em></p><p>            Nora watched as Piper continued to yell at the intercom in vain, before noticing with some concern that Piper had suddenly noticed Nora and put on a rather devious grin.</p><p>            “Hey,” she whispered. “Hey you, you want into Diamond City right?”</p><p>            <em>Why do I not like where this is going? </em>Nora thought to herself. Still, something had to be done about this situation. As long as the gate remained closed for Piper, it was also closed for Nora. She somehow doubted she could just avoid Piper and take another route into the city.</p><p>“Shh…play along,” Piper instructed, before continuing.</p><p>            “Uh, what’s that? You said you’re a trader up from Quincy? You have enough supply to keep the general stock open for a whole month? Why didn’t you say so?”</p><p>            <em>The guard can’t be that stupid,</em> Nora thought to herself, while also desperately trying to muster up a convincing response.</p><p>            Piper kept going as Nora kept silent, “You hear that Danny? You gonna open the gate and let us in, or are you gonna be the one talking to crazy Myrna about missing out on all the supply?”</p><p>            “Alright!” The voice on the intercom was clearly exasperated. “No need to make it <em>personal</em>. I’m opening the gate”.</p><p>            “Better head inside,” Piper whispered to Nora, “before ol’ Danny catches on to the bluff”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Back-Alley Offices and Yellow-Press Interviews</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 6: In which Nora finds out more about both Diamond City's resident reporter, and its missing detective.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>BACK-ALLEY OFFICES AND YELLOW-PRESS INTERVIEWS</h1><p>
  <em>“There’s a dark part of town where the girls get down/and I cannot wait for a chance to go/wait for a chance to go/I got my bad luck shoes and every excuse to dance these blues away/I ain’t coming home/ain’t coming home”. – Capital Cities “Kangaroo Court”</em>
</p><hr/><p>“Piper!” An gruff voice could be heard booming within the dimly lit entryway of the Diamond City gate. “Who let you back inside? I thought I told Sullivan to keep that gate shut!”</p><p>            A middle-aged man in a patched suit stepped out of the darkness, shaking his fist at Piper. Nora signaled Codsworth to slowly inch around the scene forming at the gate. Whatever Piper had done to incur the wrath of the authorities here didn’t seem worth risking her one lead to find Shaun.</p><p>            “You devious rabble-rousing slanderer! The level of dishonesty in that paper of yours! I’ll have that printer scrapped for parts!”</p><p>            “Yeah, yeah, McDonough, keep talking. That’s all you’re good for,” Piper retorted.</p><p>            Not wanting to get involved, Nora slowly inched towards the back of the room. There were steps leading up to the main portion of Fenway Park’s baseball field. Just as Nora reached the base of the staircase, a security guard without a baseball helmet approached. Nora identified his voice as the same voice that had been on the intercom.</p><p>            “So, <em>you’re</em> that trader Piper was taking about?” He asked suspiciously. “Something tells me she pulled the wool over my eyes again".</p><p>            “You must be Sullivan,” Nora said, apologetically.</p><p>            <em>Busted,</em> she chided herself. Danny Sullivan looked extremely unhappy.</p><p>            “I’m sorry,” Nora sighed. “It happened so fast. I was just walking up to the intercom right as it happened”.</p><p>            “That’s usually how it works with Piper,” Danny said, almost chuckling. He motioned towards the gate. “It’s not your fault. I get it. Sometimes she's bluffing and sometimes there really is a trader with a month's worth of supply right at the gate. Guess that's not really your concern, though". He was holding a pen and an old, dirty notepad. Tapping his pen against the pad, he added, “what brings you into town, ma’am? Might as well get that down for the records before you head up to Diamond City”.</p><p>            “Well, I—”</p><p>            “Why don’t we ask the newcomer here!” Piper raised her voice, redirecting everyone’s attention. She glared angrily at McDonough and then turned to Nora almost accusingly.</p><p>            “What do you think of free press, huh, because the Mayor’s threatening to throw freedom of speech into the dumpster!”</p><p>            “I’ve…” Nora hesitated, not knowing who was worse to make angry, “…always believed in freedom of the press”.</p><p>            “Oh,” the Mayor said, putting on a calmer demeanor, “I’m sorry miss, I didn’t mean to bring <em>you</em> into the argument. No, you look like fine Diamond City material! This is the safest place in the Commonwealth. It’s a fine place to spend your money and settle down. Don’t let this muckraker tell you otherwise, understand? Now, what brings you into Diamond City?”</p><p>            “I’m looking for my baby,” Nora said, as Danny took diligent notes on his records. “He’s been kidnapped. He’s less than a year old”.</p><p>            “Wait,” Piper said, her tone becoming much more serious. “Your son is missing?”</p><p>            She glared at McDonough. “You hear that McDonough? Tons of missing person cases and now <em>an infant</em> has gone missing? What’s Diamond City Security going to do about that, huh?”</p><p>            “I’ve had enough of this Piper!” McDonough yelled. “From now on, consider you and that little sister of yours on notice!”</p><p>            <em>What a response,</em> Nora thought to herself. She tried to get the Mayor’s attention to ask him more about her situation in private, but the Mayor simply dismissed the question as he walked away. Danny Sullivan also evaded any comments about missing persons cases in the city, simply saying that “we don’t have the manpower to investigate and protect the city, sorry…” One person, however, did look interested. Nora heard a woman’s voice speak to her as Piper passed her and Codsworth on the steps up to Diamond City.</p><p>            “Meet me at my office when you get a chance. I have an idea for a paper you’d be perfect for”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Diamond City was simultaneously more and less impressive than what Nora was expecting. On the one hand, it was a ramshackle assortment of shacks and trailers stacked up on top of each other. Codsworth even mentioned as they strolled through the wood-paved road that cut through what had once been the baseball diamond, “I wasn’t expecting a dusty home base, Mum”.</p><p>            On the other hand, there were people as far as the eye could see. So far, the Commonwealth had only been monsters or small pockets of travelers. Nora had wondered if there was a large amount of people anywhere in Boston anymore. Her answer was now clear: most of the survivors were here, in places like this. The city was so extensive that it even boasted services that Nora wasn’t sure she’d see again. There were multiple bars, loads of shops, a doctor’s office, and so much more. A church was one of the first buildings near the entrance of the city. The pastor was conveniently outside, sweeping the porch of the concrete base that anchored his modest trailer to the floor. Near his trailer was another shack with a giant sign that said “Publick Occurrences”; undoubtedly the paper that Piper wrote for. A girl who was presumably Piper’s younger sister stood out in front of the paper mill, advertising the latest issue.</p><p>            The pastor nodded at Nora as she stopped to take in the city. “Paper puts on quite a show, huh?”</p><p>            “Indeed,” Nora nodded. The girl was yelling about the Institute and synths. Nora remembered her encounter at Arc-Jet and shuddered a bit. She looked over at the pastor.</p><p>            “I’m curious. What do you know about this Institute?”</p><p>            “Ever heard of the boogeyman? Shadowy monster that takes people at night? That’s the Institute,” the Pastor sighed. Nora gulped as her mind flashed back to Shaun’s kidnapping.</p><p>            “Yeah,” she whispered. “I’ve heard of the boogeyman. I take it this happens all the time then, pastor? People disappearing in the middle of the night? Piper insinuated at the front desk that there’s a lot of missing persons cases that come through here”.</p><p>            “There are, sadly”.</p><p>            “Pastor, do Diamond City security really not investigate these cases?”</p><p>            “It’s hard to give you a frank answer on that, ma’am,” the pastor sighed. “On the one hand, you’d think they'd do more, you really do. On the other hand, Security isn't lying when they say they have their hands full with keeping the raiders, the ghouls, and the mutants out of the city. People go missing all the time in the Commonwealth. Some of them are taken by the Institute. A lot of them go missing because they were taken by entirely different monsters. That’s to say nothing of the people who disappear all on their own”.</p><p>            “Even babies, pastor?” Nora whispered. The pastor’s eyes widened a little bit.</p><p>            “You’re looking for a baby, ma'am?”</p><p>            “And now that I’m here, I don’t even know where to start,” Nora said. “<em>Help me</em>, pastor. I’m lost”.</p><p>            He obliged, stopping his sweeping routing and stepping closer. Pastor Clements whispered very softly in her ear, “you see those shops up ahead, ma’am? You see that noodle shop in the middle? Hook a left, towards the guy yelling about Swatters. Make a right at the school. Follow the signs. Diamond City Security doesn’t focus on missing persons cases, whatever their reasons, but that doesn’t mean everyone turns a blind eye”.</p><p>            His next words were very clear: “you’re looking for the detective, <em>Nick Valentine</em>”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Straight to the noodle shop.</p><p>            Hook a left, towards the guy yelling about “Swatters”.</p><p>            Make a right at the Diamond City schoolhouse, identifiable by a giant sign over the door.</p><p>            This path took Nora down another wooden road. At the first intersection after that, Nora noticed the first signs that the pastor was speaking of. A red neon sign glowed bright with the word “DETECTIVE”. A neon red heart flashed next to the words. An arrow in the heart pointed down the alley to the right. At the end of the alley, another sign pointed to the left. From there, at the last doorway, was the door to the Valentine Detective Agency.</p><p>            “Finally Mum!” Codsworth beamed enthusiastically. “We’re making progress to finding young Shaun at last!”</p><p>            Nora grinned, touched the doorknob, and took a deep breath. It was time to bring a professional into the search. The unimpressive metal shack in the midst of the shantytown known as Diamond City hid a surprisingly well put-together setup for a detective. The place was a few coats of paint and sturdier walls away from being reminiscent of an actual pre-War detective’s office. Nick even had a secretary under his employ.</p><p>            The secretary was the only one in the office at the moment. She was standing near an assortment of filing cabinets, thumbing through paperwork and sulking. When Nora and Codsworth entered the office, the secretary turned to them with an unimpressed look on her face. Her eyes were a bit baggy and red. She had obviously been crying over something.</p><p>            “Another stray coming in from the rain,” the secretary said. “I’m afraid you’re too late. <em>Office is closed</em>”.</p><p>            “The detective isn’t here?” Nora asked.</p><p>            “Please, miss,” Codsworth pleaded, “it’s a matter of urgency”.</p><p>            “You don’t think I hear that a million times a day?” The woman retorted, becoming visibly annoyed. “I told you, <em>the office is closed</em>. I can’t change that”.</p><p>            “<em>Why</em> is the office closed?” Nora pleaded.</p><p>            “It’s the detective,” the secretary responded. “Nick Valentine. <em>He’s</em> gone missing”. It was Codsworth who spoke next.</p><p>            “How simply dreadful! Mum, this is terrible news, and we were so close to finding young Shaun..."</p><p>            Nora was silent, suppressing an anxious laugh at the irony of the situation. It had taken days to get from Sanctuary to Diamond City, and she’d nearly been killed a couple of times along the way. For her to make it all the way here only to have the most qualified person to help her go missing was a sick joke. It was hard to contain her anger. In Law School, she’d been coached on presenting arguments and maintaining her composure in tough situations. She remembered every moment of coaching on maintaining a calm façade as she formulated a response to the situation at hand. Nick Valentine’s secretary stepped back uneasily, however, seeing the rage and fury in Nora’s eyes: the one thing she could not hide.</p><p>            “Look, I’m sorry,” the secretary began, “I can’t help the fact that Nick’s disappeared. Now I’m sure you came a long way to bring us your case bu—”</p><p>            “It’s not <em>you</em> I’m angry at,” Nora said coolly. Even Codsworth’s eyes were focused keenly on Nora at this point, waiting for her next move. “It’s just…<em>you’re right</em>. I’ve come a long way, and I’ve done it all to find someone more precious to me than anything else in the world. My infant son’s life could be on the line here. He’s the one at stake”.</p><p>            The secretary’s eyes widened. She was obviously used to hearing sob stories, but Nora’s was a cut above the rest. She nodded.</p><p>            “I’m sorry. I really am. I wish there was something I could do to help you, but I can’t exactly keep a detective’s office open with no detective”.</p><p>            “I know you can’t,” Nora nodded. Her calm fury solidified into frightening determination. The worry and fear about how Nora would react to the devastating news now turned into fascination on both the secretary’s part and Codsworth’s.</p><p>            “What’s your name?” Nora asked firmly.</p><p>            “Ellie Perkins”.</p><p>            “Ellie, I’m Nora. If you really want to help me, could you tell me anything about how I could find Nick Valentine? Anything at all?”</p><p>            “You would do that? You’d look for Nick?” Ellie looked as though she were about to start crying again.</p><p>            “I’m already looking for Shaun. I might as well find Nick too. If I don’t find Nick, I might not find Shaun anyway, so fill me in on the details, Ellie, and I swear to you, I’ll do everything I can to bring him back”.</p><p>#</p><p>            It was somewhat comforting to know that Diamond City wasn’t one of its kind in the Commonwealth. Ellie had mentioned that Nick had disappeared working a kidnapping case based out of a nearby town called Goodneighbor. A gang of hoodlums from Goodneighbor had apparently kidnapped a young woman. Before Nick Valentine left his office for the last time, he’d told Ellie that he’d tracked the gang down to their hideout at Park Street Station. Ellie also confirmed Nora’s suspicion that the ruins of downtown Boston were particularly dangerous. Goodneighbor was sandwiched between several ruined skyscrapers, taking advantage of the destroyed urban infrastructure to defend itself from the swarms of ghouls, mutants, and raiders which all called that area home. As much as Nora wanted to leave for Park Street Station immediately, it was clear that some preparations would need to be made first. Thankfully, they were in the best place in the Commonwealth to stock up on whatever they needed.</p><p>            One of the former dugouts of Fenway Park had been transformed into an inn. Figuring it would take at least a day to prepare, Nora wound up heading to the Dugout Inn and renting a room for the night. “It certainly won’t be a bad idea to have a proper roof over our heads for the night, Mum,” Codsworth noted. “I don’t think we’ve had proper accommodations besides the police station”.</p><p>            The Dugout Inn was run by two twin brothers, Vadim and Yefim Bobrov. In addition to running the inn, they also ran a well-stocked bar that included their own homemade moonshine. Nora marveled at their Russian accents. Was there still international travel two-hundred years after the end of the world?</p><p>            “Ah, you’re curious about the accent?” Yefim asked, after taking ten Caps from Nora as the price of one night’s stay at the inn. “Vadim and I aren’t originally from Diamond City. There used to be a settlement west of here named Allston. We were born there. A lot of people didn’t have the standard Diamond City accent there”.</p><p>            “I remember Allston,” Nora mused. “Before the war, that area used to be filled with immigrants”.</p><p>            “I’m sorry,” Yefim asked, perplexed. “You <em>remember</em> Allston? The place has been deserted since we were teenagers. It’s not a terribly sad story like other places in the Commonwealth. Our population just kept thinning out as people moved to other settlements. Hell, Vadim and I found more opportunities in Diamond City, so that’s why we’re here”.</p><p>            “I mean, just--- y’know. Trivia. About Allston," Nora chuckled nervously, remembering that not everyone needed to know she was centuries older than she looked. "I’ve never actually <em>been</em> to Allston”.</p><p>            <em>At least not the Allston that you remember, Yefim. </em></p><p>            “Oh, I see,” Yefim nodded, going back to sitting in his usual spot by the inn rooms, reading a copy of <em>Publick Occurrences</em>. “Well, enjoy your stay”.</p><p>#</p><p>            There was an old issue of <em>Publick Occurrences</em> sitting on the table of Room 2. Nora thumbed through the paper while settling down in her room. The issue had been written about three months ago, and featured a scathing condemnation by Piper Wright against Diamond City Security’s policy of refusing to investigate missing persons cases.</p><p>            “Seems like this has been an ongoing issue,” Nora sighed. “There’s a lot of stuff here about the Institute too. Apparently, Piper thinks the Institute are behind a lot of these kidnappings”.</p><p>            “What do you think, Mum?” Codsworth asked. “There’s a lot of fear about the Institute in Diamond City. Do you think they had anything to do with Shaun’s disappearance?”</p><p>            “I don’t think I know enough about them to pass any judgment. Paladin Danse mentioned that they’re a group of scientists who went underground and sent their robots up to the Commonwealth, right? What reason would they have to take people?”</p><p>            “It remains to be seen, Mum. I’ve been wondering the same thing myself. The good pastor we met when we first entered the city mentioned that there’s a lot of other groups in the Commonwealth who engage in kidnapping. Raiders? Mutants? Gunners?”</p><p>            “The man who took Shaun wasn’t a mutant, Codsworth. He also seemed a cut above the raiders I met in Concord. I don’t see any reason why the raiders would take a baby anyway, unless they planned to profit off of it. If that were true, I’d have a ransom note of some kind”.</p><p>            Nora looked at Codsworth curiously. “I take it you’ve never heard of Gunners?”</p><p>            “I know they’re some kind of <em>fancy</em> raider group, just based on things I’ve heard from people passing through Sanctuary over the years. I don’t know anything else about them, Mum. Does that help any?”</p><p>            “I guess he could be a Gunner,” Nora said. “If they’re more organized and better equipped than the usual raider, and there was some kind of specific agenda besides why they’d take Shaun while leaving Nate dead and leaving me frozen, then maybe I could see it. I wish we knew more about what we were up against in the Commonwealth”.</p><p>            “Well,” Codsworth mused, pointing one of his appendages in the direction of the newspaper. “The author of that paper did invite you for an interview…”</p><p>#</p><p>            “Free paper lady,” Piper’s little sister said as Nora and Codsworth approached the newspaper office. “If the Institute gets ya’ in the middle of the night, ya’ can’t say we didn’t warn ya’”.</p><p>            <em>The Synthetic Truth</em>. Nora skimmed over the first few lines as she approached the door to the offices of Publick Occurrences and knocked.</p><p>            “We’re open, lady,” Piper’s sister mentioned. “You can just go in”. Before Nora could respond, the door to Piper’s trailer opened. Nora faced forward and noticed Piper Wright’s brown eyes staring into her own. The reporter had a cocky, charismatic smirk a mile wide.</p><p>            “Glad you could drop by,” she grinned. “How you holdin’ up, Blue?" The nickname ‘Blue’ was unmistakably a reference to the Vault Suit Nora was wearing.  “Y’know, most Vault Dwellers insulate their suits a bit more before they head to the surface,” Piper mentioned, after having Nora sit down on the main couch in her home. She offered Nora a lukewarm Nuka-Cola before sitting down for the interview.</p><p>            “The fact that you never insulated your Vault Suit means you left in a hurry,” Piper started off. “Before your son was kidnapped, did you ever go outside the Vault?”</p><p>            “Well…” Nora thought. <em>She probably means after I entered the Vault. I wonder what ‘normal’ Vault Dwellers are like. </em></p><p>            “No,” she answered finally. “This is my first time in the Wasteland”.</p><p>            “Oh man, that’s gotta be nerve-wracking. Still, I really feel for you, Blue. If someone took my sister, I’d run through hell to get Nat back. You should talk to Arturo and stop at Fallon’s when you get a chance. Maybe they can help you out with that suit, or even just getting some different clothing”.</p><p>            “I’ll try and remember that,” Nora noted. Codsworth’s voice could be heard in the background: “Oh, Diamond City has a Fallon’s department store? I’ll set a reminder for you, Mum!”</p><p>            Piper sat down in a chair opposite to Nora and lent forward. A mischievous smile returned to her face. “Glad to be of assistance Blue. Now, let’s talk about what I want from you”. With an old flip-lighter, Piper produced a pack of cigarettes from one of her trench-coat pockets and lit one. She offered another to Nora, who declined.</p><p>            “So here’s the deal,” Piper said, putting the second cigarette back into the pack. “I want an interview, Blue. Your life story in print. I think it’s time Diamond City had a little outside perspective on the Commonwealth. You do that and I tell you what, I’ll come with you. Watch your back while you get used to the world above ground”.</p><p>            “Mum? Codsworth mentioned. “That sounds like an interesting proposal. Don’t you have a little sister though, Ms. Wright?”</p><p>            “Nat? She can handle herself. She never leaves the city. I know Mayor McDonough has it out for us, but he’s really more upset about me than he is about Nat. Besides, people would probably raise more of a fuss if Nat disappeared than if I did. Her teacher and classmates, for example”.</p><p>            “The city lets you just leave and have her still be unattended by herself?” Nora asked.</p><p>            “It’s not super-common for kids to be on their own in the Commonwealth, but it’s not exactly rare either. Did ya’ get a chance to see the purified water stall down by the radio station, on the other end of town.?The kid that runs that stall, Sheng Kowalski? He came to Diamond City when he was nine, all on his own. He’s eleven, by the way. If he’s anything to go by, Diamond City won’t worry too much about my twelve-year-old sister”.</p><p>            Codsworth and Nora both looked at Piper in silence for a minute while Nora thought the arrangement over.</p><p>            “Alright, Piper. You’ve got yourself a deal”.</p><p>#</p><p>            “So, I know you’re from a Vault,” Piper began, “how would you describe your time on the inside?”</p><p>            Codsworth looked at Nora, obviously interested to hear what he’d missed in their two-hundred and ten years apart. Nora closed her eyes for a moment before responding.</p><p>            “Piper, you mind if I answer that question with a question?”</p><p>            “If it’s relevant, Blue”.</p><p>            “I heard a lot of the Vaults were actually experiments. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”</p><p>            “Well, Blue, a lot of the Vaults were experiments. I’ve heard of Vault 95 from some stories about Gunners in the area. I guess that one used to be some kind of Vault for chem-heads before the bombs dropped. It wasn’t exactly a recovery program, since the chem-heads aren’t around anymore. There’s another empty Vault in Malden full of Gunners too, but I’m not really sure what their deal was. And then of course, there’s Vault 81. Apparently that one’s a normal Vault. The 81’ers don’t come out much, but their descendants are still there and they’re doing pretty well for themselves”.</p><p>            Piper eyed Nora’s Vault Suit. She’d obviously seen the number on the back from their meeting at the Diamond City gate. “Until now, the only thing I knew about Vault 111 was that it was way up in the northwest of the Commonwealth, past Abernathy Farm. The Abernathys have been there for ages, and when I went up that way once for an interview, they said they’d never heard of any movement in that area. It’s a bit weird for a Vault to have living people in it for two centuries with no need to open even once. Even 81 isn’t <em>that</em> isolationist. You can imagine my surprise to see that they supposedly abandoned Vault 111 has been home to Dwellers the whole time without opening”.</p><p>            “Unless…” Piper’s eyes narrowed. She’d figured it out. “Your ability to maintain the Vault without contact with the rest of the Commonwealth for over two-hundred years was precisely because of some experiment that Vault-Tec built into the Vault?”</p><p>            “You’ve got it right, Piper”.</p><p>            “So let’s hear it then. About this experiment, Blue. What was your time like inside the Vault?”</p><p>            “Because of the experiment, Piper, it’s difficult to describe. You see, I never got a lot of time inside the Vault. The Vault had these pods that froze us into place. I only recently woke up”.</p><p>            “They froze you into place? So they brought you to the pod and…wait…” Nora could see the realization washing over Piper’s face. “You mean they boxed you up in a fridge <em>the whole time?</em> Are you saying you were alive before the War?”</p><p>            “Well, that was the only time I’m aware of that Vault-Tec opened up the door to let any Vault Dwellers in”.</p><p>            “Oh man,” Piper said, almost giggling. “Sorry Blue, it’s just…man this is huge…”</p><p>            After jotting down a couple of notes, she looked back at Nora. “So, you’ve seen the world outside. How does it compare to your old life?”</p><p>            “Can you even compare the two?”</p><p>            “Feeling a little homesick, aren’t you?” Piper expressed more sympathy in her voice this time. “Can’t say I blame you”.</p><p>            She glanced at the wedding ring still perched on Nora’s left hand. “So…you said you were looking for your son? What was his name?”</p><p>            “Shaun”. Nora felt Piper’s gaze shift down to her left hand. She held out her hand and gazed at her wedding ring. “He was a baby when they took him”.</p><p>            “It’s…been a while?” Piper said with horror.</p><p>            “I don’t know exactly how long. Supposedly, from something I heard from someone up at Sanctuary, it hasn’t been all <em>that</em> long, but I’m not sure of the exact amount of time it took before they unfroze me”.</p><p>            “How’d they take Shaun without unfreezing you too?”</p><p>            “I was in the pod across from Shaun and my husband when …those people…came into the Vault and took him. I guess they had to stop the cryo for a few minutes when they went to open the pod, because I could hear and see everything. The pod door wouldn’t open though…”</p><p>            “And your husband?” Piper asked with some concern.</p><p>            Nora merely shook her head in response. Piper put out the last of her cigarette on a nearby ashtray with a mutter of disgust.</p><p>            “Blue, do you think the Institute was involved?”</p><p>            “I don’t know enough about the Institute to say for sure. I barely know anything about them. The first time I heard anything about them was while I was passing through Cambridge. We ran into a few of their synths”.</p><p>            “Wow, you’ve had an eventful trip down here. That’s the scary thing about the Institute though, Blue. No one ever knows if it’s really the Institute behind their troubles, but their handiwork is all over the Commonwealth. Sometimes they leave those old plastic synths around to remind us that they’re out there. Sometimes they even replace people with a covert agent, with those newer model synths that can pass for human. You ever seen one of those, Blue?”</p><p>            “No, I don’t think so. I only remember seeing the plastic ones”.</p><p>            Nora looked back at Piper. “The Institute can make synths that look like you and me?”</p><p>            “Oh, they’ve been able to do that for a while now. I saw the paper Nat handed you when you walked in. Give it a good read while you’re shopping. There’s some history in there about Diamond City’s first experience with the human synths, almost sixty years ago. They’ve been a hidden force of nature in the Commonwealth for at least a century. Not everything bad that happens in the Commonwealth is because of the Institute, but there’s a lot of things we can’t be sure they’re innocent of either”.</p><p>            “Oh, Blue,” Piper mentioned, setting down her notepad for a moment to take a break for the interview. “Before I forget… …I wanted to make sure you were on the up-and-up before I mentioned this. I don’t like to waste my friend’s time, but I think this should be alright. Behind Moe Cronin’s Swatter Shop, there’s an alleyway. Follow the signs with the heart on them and you’ll hit Nick Valentine’s Detective Agency. Since you’re looking for a missing person and Diamond City Security isn’t super helpful—”</p><p>            “I already went there first, Piper,” Nora interjected. “You don’t know? Nick Valentine is missing”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Best Skull Bashers In the Commonwealth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 7: In which Nora makes her way to an abandoned Vault and meets a detective with an interesting background.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>BEST SKULL-BASHERS IN THE COMMONWEALTH</h1><p>
  <em>“So we ran away/And I’m sorry if I say that straight to this very day/it was the wrong way” – Sublime “Wrong Way”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            After hearing of Nick Valentine’s disappearance, Nora had planned to take a day to determine a strategy and gather as much information she could about anything that would be useful to know before her trip down to Park Street Station. Being a clueless newcomer in the Commonwealth had caused her to stand out already, and facing down goons from the Goodneighbor mob was not a situation Nora wanted to walk blindly into.</p><p>            Piper Wright wasn’t having it, insisting that not only would her article wait until she got back, but that they needed to set out to find Nick Valentine immediately.</p><p>            “Blue! Goddammit, he’s my friend! I’m not going to leave Nick sitting idly in who-knows-where while I could be out saving him!"</p><p>            “I’m not saying we shouldn’t hurry, you know!” Nora groaned. “Just remember, I have no clue what I’m walking into! Would it be so bad if you gave me some time to figure out what my next move should be?”</p><p>            “<em>Our</em> next move, Blue. I’m coming with you, and that’s just the end of it. Between the two of us and your robot, I’m sure we can clean Park Street Station right out if we’re quick about it”.</p><p>            “Maybe if we’re <em>careful</em> about it. Besides, my Vault Suit needs to be reinforced before I just run out into the Commonwealth, remember! I’m not exactly as combat ready as you might be!”</p><p>            “You made it down from Sanctuary to Diamond City okay”.</p><p>            “That was with more help than I’d like to admit,” Nora mumbled, unconsciously touching the bandages on her forearm. Scribe Haylen’s makeshift antiseptic had definitely helped, but it had barely been a day since she’d gotten proper medical attention.</p><p>            “Besides,” Nora added, pulling out her 10mm pistol and her slowly decreasing stash of ammo. “I’m not going to be shooting things much longer if I don’t fix the ammunition problem first”.</p><p>            “You seem to have a few fusion cells on you too”.</p><p>            “I’m not used to the rifle,” Nora sighed. “And the way things have gone for me with the musket, I might as well scrap it for parts. The only gun I ever handled before this whole thing stated was a pistol, so I’d prefer to stay within my element”.</p><p>            “Not a lot of shooting before the War, huh?” Piper sighed.</p><p>            “I had to take some mandatory lessons with a pistol before the War went nuclear,” Nora mentioned. “It was a measure by the government in case we had a mainland attack. I was a lawyer and a housewife, though, not a soldier, so they just showed me the basics”.</p><p>            “Alright, we’ll buy you some ammunition from Arturo and Myrna. We might as well ask Arturo about your Vault Suit while we’re at his shop. Nothing crazy, though, okay Blue? We need to find Nick immediately”.</p><p>            “If you’re tagging along as an extra gun, we can leave sooner,” Nora agreed, “but please let me get at least a little prepared”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Progressing to the main marketplace of Diamond City, Nora, Piper and Codsworth started from the left-hand side and worked their way towards the right.</p><p>            The barbershop was the first stop. Next to that was a shop with the Fallon’s department store sign on it.</p><p>            “Fallon’s still operates after two-hundred and ten years?” Nora questioned, while Codsworth muttered something about how disgraceful he found the decline of his favorite clothing outlet to be.</p><p>            “Becky Fallon is descended from the people who run that store, so she’s a bit proud of her pre-War heritage. It was probably a lot bigger in your day, huh? Fuck it, we may as well see if she’s got some extra armor for you, Blue”.</p><p>            They walked down the steps to the shack entrance --- this one was partially underground --- and opened the door. They were the only customers in the shop. Becky Fallon, a woman who looked to be in her fifties, barely looked up at them as they walked in.</p><p>            “Payin’ customers only,” Becky muttered.</p><p>            “That’s the idea,” Nora responded, getting Becky’s attention.</p><p>            “Oh, you’re new here! First Vault Dweller I’ve seen in years. You people are always so fond of your suits...”</p><p>            <em>You people? </em>Nora muttered.</p><p>            “Blue,” Piper whispered. “Blame 81. Dwellers have a bit of a reputation…”</p><p>            “Speaking of my suit, my friend tells me this is where I can have it insulated?”</p><p>            Becky Fallon examined it carefully. “Believe it or not, I could manage the repairs for you and the insulation. Gonna cost you a bit though. Four hundred Caps, up front, and you won’t get it back for about two days”.</p><p>            “Um, Codsworth?” Nora asked. She didn’t remember exactly how many caps she still had. Preston had given her a decent sum when they had returned to Sanctuary, and Codsworth had been stockpiling a small amount since he’d learned Caps were now the de facto currency of the Commonwealth.</p><p>            “Er…eight-hundred and fifty, Mum”.</p><p>            “Got something I can wear in the meantime?”</p><p>            “Well, I can add on a laundered dress for ten Caps. Rose or blue, dear?”</p><p>            “Mrs. Fallon,” Piper retorted, “we need something a bit more travel-worthy. We are not waiting two days for you to patch that suit”.</p><p>            “Well,” Becky perused her shelves, before settling on a set of army fatigues. “I’ve got this. Last trader that came through from Bunker Hill sold it to me for cheap, so you can have it for fifteen Caps. You’ll have to scrub the blood out with Abraxo, though, <em>and I don’t sell Abraxo</em>. Interested?”</p><p>            “It’ll have to do,” Nora mumbled, as Codsworth disgustedly pulled out four-hundred and fifteen Caps.</p><p>#</p><p>            The shop after Fallon’s was Moe Cronin’s Swatter Shop. Nora marveled at the old man in antique baseball gear, selling baseball bats fitted with barbed wire and razorblades. Some of them were even painted.</p><p>            “Genuine hickory!” Moe advertised.</p><p>            “I…doubt that’s going to be useful,” Nora muttered.</p><p>            “Yeah,” Piper agreed. “It’s going to be a cold day in hell when a baseball bat gets us anywhere with Goodneighbor goons”.</p><p>            Arturo Hernandez’s shop was the next store after that, and beyond his stall was Myrna’s general store “Diamond City Surplus”. Codsworth excused himself as Piper and Nora shopped for weapons and ammunition, leaving Nora with the remaining Caps as he went to Myrna to ask about the cost of Abraxo and a bucket.</p><p>            “Loyal robot,” Piper remarked.</p><p>            “The best,” Nora smiled, as they walked up to Arturo.</p><p>            “Well, hello there! You must be the new girl. Piper showing you around?” Arturo said politely.</p><p>            “You could say that,” Nora responded.</p><p>            “We need ammunition for her pistol,” Piper added, before having Nora lay her pistol on the table.</p><p>            “Hmm, pretty basic ten-millimeter. Used condition. <em>Really</em> needs to be cleaned,” Arturo mused. “You might be better off getting a whole new gun while you’re at it, though either way you’re going to need more ammo. Let’s start with the ammo first then? How much are you looking for?”</p><p>            “How much will four-hundred and thirty-five Caps get me?” Nora asked.</p><p>            “Well, I sell by the round. Two Caps a bullet. So I’d say a couple hundred. You might wanna stop at a hundred though and think about another gun instead. I’ve got a pistol like this with an upgraded receiver I can give you for seventy Caps. I’ll knock it down to fifty if you trade in the old pistol”.</p><p>            “Fourty,” Piper quickly added.</p><p>            “No deal. Fifty Caps for the exchange, and two Caps per bullet”.</p><p>            Nora thought to herself for a moment before reaching across her back and removing the musket and rifle she’d carried along with her. Arturo eyed them both, greedily.</p><p>            “Now, if you want to add them into the deal,” he began, “we could talk business”.</p><p>            “I’m keeping the rifle. What can I get for trading in the musket too?”</p><p>            Arturo examined it carefully. “Hmm…pretty basic laser musket. Probably something one of the Minutemen were tinkering with. I’d say it’s worth about fifty-caps, so if I take it and the old pistol, I’ll swap you the one with the better receiver and then we’ll just talk about ammunition? Deal?”</p><p>            “Deal. I’ll take one-hundred bullets while I’m at it,” Nora said, counting out two-hundred caps. Codsworth floated back over to Piper and mentioned something about needing twenty caps for his own purchase, causing Nora to almost lose count. Bottlecaps were not an efficient system of currency.</p><p>            “I string mine with wire by different denominations,” Arturo added. “It’s pretty helpful. Makes them less of a pain to carry, too! Notice how some of the caps have a little whole in them? Something to think about”. He took Nora’s first pistol (after emptying it) and the laser musket off of his counter, handing Nora the upgraded 10mm pistol in exchange. He also gave Nora two full boxes of ammunition before counting ten remaining rounds from a third box and handing them to her.</p><p>            “There you go. Here, take this too”. He handed her a gun-cleaning kit.</p><p>            “That one should be fine for a while, but keep your gun clean so it doesn’t jam on you. Maybe that way you live long enough to come back and buy some more?”</p><p>#</p><p>            After Codsworth cleaned and dried the dirty army uniform, Nora went back to Piper’s home and changed her outfit. Slipping the leather armor she’d scavenged from Concord back unto the fatigues, she folded up her suit and handed it to Codsworth, who hurried to Fallon’s and dropped the suit off for repairs. While he was gone, she loaded her new pistol. It had a bit more weight to it than the last one. Arturo clearly had a thing for weapon modifications.</p><p>            “You feeling ready yet?” Piper asked. “I’ve got plenty of food packed. I’m alright on Stims, too, but I guess I won’t be angry if we stop in at Doc Sun’s just for those. Pretty reasonable request”.</p><p>            “I’m doing alright on Stimpaks,” Nora nodded. “Got some Rad-X and Radaway I’ve found in various places too. A friend even showed me how to make antiseptic out of turpentine. I’ve got a leftover bottle of the stuff”.</p><p>            “Your pockets are a bit roomier than the Vault Suit though,” Piper laughed. “I was getting worried you were starting to need a backpack”.</p><p>            “Maybe I’ll buy one after we find Nick”.</p><p>            When Codsworth returned, Piper informed her sister they were leaving due to an emergency. After that, the trio walked out of Diamond City’s front gate, with Piper leading Nora in the direction of Park Street Station.</p><p>            “Blue, I don’t think I need to tell you, the Commonwealth gets deadly in certain spots. Stay close”.</p><p>#</p><p>            There were several dangers on the road to Park Street Station, although Nora was stunned at how calmly Piper handled the danger. Their first run-in with trouble had been with some rabid junkyard dogs outside Diamond City. These were dispatched quickly with some well-aimed bullets and Codsworth’s buzzsaw. After that, a stretch of road between the junkyard and the first massive skyscraper in the downtown area was clear.</p><p>            They advanced a bit further before a strange beeping sound could be heard from the next block over.</p><p>            “<em>Shit</em>,” Piper whispered. ‘Stay quiet and come with me! Quick!” As she snuck Nora and Codsworth around the corner of an adjacent building, Nora noticed a super mutant standing from around where the beeping sound was coming from. The super mutant hadn’t noticed them, facing the opposite direction and casually walking about. The beeping was coming from a football-sized object that he was holding in his right hand.</p><p>            “Is that a—"</p><p>            “Yep,” Piper again. “<em>That’s a fuckin’ mini-nuke</em>. We gotta go”.</p><p>            Stealthily rushing down the empty alleyway, they could hear the beeping gradually grow further and further away.</p><p>            “Why would they carry something like <em>that</em> around?” Codsworth inquired, still maintaining a hushed tone.</p><p>            “Codsworth, super mutants don’t really think and strategize the same way as we do. Er…by that I mean they don’t strategize much at all. A lot of super mutant hunting parties usually just involve super mutants with guns, but sometimes you’ll run into mutants with makeshift swatters or even one of those mini-nukes”.</p><p>            “Why a mini-nuke?” Nora said. “What if he throws it and misses?”</p><p>            “They don’t throw it, and they don’t miss,” Piper said ominously. “Super mutants aren’t great planners, Blue. They just wanna kill any human they come across, usually for dinner. They’re all about the killing first though. If that mutant had seen us, he would have ran straight for us and hit us with that thing".</p><p>            “Wouldn’t that kill him too?” Codsworth exclaimed, a bit louder. Piper shushed him before continuing.</p><p>            “Jesus, Codsworth. We’re not totally sure the whole hunting party isn’t following us, and Boston Common is up ahead. Stay quiet. To answer your question --- <em>yes</em>. But like I said, strategy isn’t the super mutant forte”. With Piper’s explanation done, they continued to inch forward towards Boston Common. Nora wondered what lurked in this part of town to warrant Piper’s extreme caution. Park Street Station, by Nora’s recollection, was <em>in </em>Boston Common.</p><p>            <em>At least we’re close</em>, Nora thought to herself, looking up at the sky. The sky was starting to fade and darken. It was the middle of autumn, so the days were shorter. She estimated it must have been around four or five-o’clock. An old abandoned tank was parked on the entryway to Boston Common. In white paint, someone had drawn out one ominous word: “SWAN”.</p><p>            “<em>Swan</em>?” Nora whispered. Piper gestured for her and Codsworth to step behind the tank while she looked out at the pond which had once been a feature of the public park.</p><p>            “He’s asleep,” Piper finally relaxed, still keeping her voice low. “Alright, here’s the deal. The coast looks clear, so we’ll inch around the Common’s perimeter until we get to the subway station entrance. Don’t make any loud noises, and don’t go into the park”.</p><p>            “Wouldn’t it be faster to cut through the Common?”</p><p>            “Blue, this is Boston Common. People don’t come back from here, remember that. And stay quiet. Whatever you do, <em>don’t wake Swan</em>”. Slowly, softly, carefully, they inched out of the alleyway and around the still-gated perimeter of Boston Common’s main parkway. Nora curiously looked out at the park. There was nothing laying on the grass, and nothing but several hunks of green algae and overgrowth in the pond after two-hundred years. What had Piper been so worried about?”</p><p>            In the silence, she vaguely heard snoring. It was far away, but it was loud.</p><p>            <em>Just what the hell was Swan?</em></p><p>            The subway station came into view as the group turned a corner. They had to carefully inch again around another corner to access the actual entrance and make their way to the door. The sign above the entryway confirmed their arrival.</p><p>            “Oh thank heavens,” Codsworth exclaimed, a bit loudly. “We’ve made it!”</p><p>            Nora flinched. Piper looked at Codsworth in horror. The earth began to rumble as they suddenly heard something <em>large</em> ascend from the pond.</p><p>            “<em><strong>SWWWWWAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!</strong></em>” the beast cried, as it awoke. This must have been the biggest super mutant Nora had ever seen. Just as tall as some of the two story buildings around the pond, Swan lumbered out of the pond and picked up a large section of uprooted fire hydrant. It started looking around for the voice that had awoken it.</p><p>            “<em>Fuck</em>!” Piper exclaimed, before grabbing Nora and Codsworth and rushing them into the subway station.</p><p>#</p><p>            They could feel the earth shaking from within the underground entryway of the station. Swan was running around outside, bashing things with its giant club and screaming like a toddler in the midst of a full-blown tantrum.</p><p>            “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Piper whispered. “Codsworth, I told you not to wake up Swan!”</p><p>            “Will he notice us? Will he get in here?” Nora asked worriedly.</p><p>            “No,” Piper said. “The subway station is pretty solid and this portion is underground. Even Swan can’t unbury the station. I don’t think he saw us in time before I pulled you both down. Unfortunately, we’re stuck in here for a while. Either Swan’s going to have to tire himself back out, or we need to find another exit”.</p><p>            “What the hell was that thing?” Nora asked.</p><p>            “Those are Behemoths. There’s not a whole ton of them running around. Super Mutants usually get themselves killed before they grow that large, since they get typically get dumber as they get larger. Every now and again, though, you run into one that didn’t quite bite the dust in time”. Piper raised her hand up to the ceiling and pointed upwards at the surface, where Swan was currently laying waste to the park.</p><p>            “Good news is, Swan’s pretty territorial. He almost never leaves the Common, so you only get three types of people coming through here. They would be the ill-informed, the lunatic, and the desperate --- we’d be the last group”.</p><p>            “How do we know that thing didn’t get Nick Valentine?” Nora asked cautiously.</p><p>            “Pft,” Piper almost laughed. “Nick’s not you or I, Blue. Everyone turned their attention away from the subway station entrance and into the corridor leading down into the subway itself. They had been outrageously lucky not to run into anything hostile once Piper had pulled Nora and Codsworth into the station --- according to Ellie Perkins, Park Street Station was full of gangsters. When they stopped whispering to each other, they could hear the faint sound of another conversation in the next room.</p><p>            “Man, that giant green animal really gets going once he’s up, huh?” A man’s voice said.</p><p>            Another voice spoke --- this one sounded raspy and strange. “I wonder who pissed him off this time”.</p><p>            “I’m not heading up there to find out! I went up there once while Swan was asleep to see if there was any booze in some of the buildings around here. Looks like the last guy that woke up Swan got turned into Wastelander pate”.</p><p>            “Probably still better than two-hundred year old Cram!”</p><p>            Both voices started laughing. Piper moved to the other side of the corridor and pulled out a pipe pistol before gesturing for Nora and Codsworth to start making their way down the steps. The doorway to the next room was very narrow, resulting in a poor field-of-vision into the next room. It sounded like the two men were further off to one side of the room, more in Piper’s line of sight than Nora and Codsworth’s.</p><p>            “Can’t believe Skinny Malone though,” the raspy voice continued. Nora cocked her pistol and watched as Piper gazed intently into the room.</p><p>            “No clear shot,” Piper mumbled, “can’t see ‘em”. The man with the raspy voice kept talking.</p><p>            “I mean seriously, he catches that detective snooping around and what does he do? Just locks him up! Like he doesn’t have the guts to just kill ‘im!”</p><p>            “Don’t let that new girl of his hear you talking. She’ll swing that bat in your face until there’s no face left”.</p><p>            Piper’s eyes widened. One of the men was stepping out from behind a guardrail. She aimed the pipe pistol carefully, took a deep breath, and—</p><p>            BANG!</p><p>            “Oh shit! Who did that?” The raspier voice cried, before running out into the open portion the room, sub-machine gun in hand. Piper barely managed to get back behind cover as the submachine gun started firing into the subway entry.</p><p>            “Blue! We’ve got company!” In the next room, the sound of more footsteps emerged. As soon as the submachine gun stopped firing, Codsworth sprang into action next, rushing into the entryway and igniting his flamer. A stream of fire lit up the room as Piper and Nora rushed in behind him. There were now three gangsters where Piper had initially only seen one (barring the man who was already dead). Nora ducked in time to avoid a ghoulified man in a pressed black suit with a baseball bat. Landing on the floor, she rolled over to face him again, aimed her gun up, and fired two shots into his torso.</p><p>            As the ghoul-man toppled back, another man could be seen running away. Codsworth’s flame nozzle had set him on fire. Nora heard a strange sound coming from Piper’s pistol.</p><p>            <em>Fuck!</em> Piper thought. <em>It’s jammed!</em></p><p>A bullet from the last man’s 10mm grazed Piper’s right arm, causing her to fall back in pain. Before she could react, she saw another 10mm bullet pierce through the man’s skull. He collapsed to his knees, blood and brain matter spraying all around him,</p><p>            “Gross,” Piper winced, as Nora rushed over and gave Piper a Stimpak. Nora looked around at the carnage in the room.</p><p>            <em>They’re just gangsters. It was us or them</em>, she tried to reassure herself. The post-War world’s propensity for gunfights made her feel uneasy. This was the antithesis of everything she’d once considered to be wrong --- but it had to be done to find Shaun. Piper stood up after injecting the Stimpak and patted Nora on the shoulder. “You really held your own there, Blue”.</p><p>#</p><p>            One of the nice things about assaulting the hideout of a Goodneighbor gang was picking up after all of their spoils, littered around the subway station. Piper simply discarded the broken pipe pistol she’d started off with, taking the last man’s 10mm pistol and some of Nora’s bullets. The fallen mobsters had extra ammunition and food in their pockets. Other provisions, Caps, and even some high value salvage were scattered around the subway station. Nora found a satchel on one of the shelves in the subway station and began loading it up with what they had retrieved from the gang. Once they were finished, they moved further down into the subway station and cleared out the rest of the gangsters.</p><p>            The wrecks of subway carriages littered some of the rails on the lowest level. Most of the subway tunnels had long caved in, but a few tunnels were still passable. They walked further into the tunnels after clearing out the lower level, making conversation as they passed long-forgotten trains.</p><p>            “If Nick dares ask you for a finder’s fee after this,” Piper laughed, “you’ll at least have enough to pay him with”.</p><p>            “I imagine running a detective’s office comes with balancing a budget,” Nora mused. “Though when it comes to my son, money isn’t an object. How is Nick though, when it comes to negotiating?”</p><p>            “Well, some things are better explained when you see him,” Piper laughed. She thought for a moment before continuing, “he’s one of those types with an …er…cold exterior? Bleeding heart on the inside. Between the fact that your son is an infant, the fact that we’re delving into scary subway tunnels to find him, and the fact that he’s always been a sucker for the hard luck cases, he’ll go easy on you, Blue. Nicky’s good people”.</p><p>            “He sounds like a rather upstanding human being,” Codsworth chirped.</p><p>            “He is. <em>Uh...kinda,”</em> Piper confided. “Not everyone likes him, but he does more for the missing person cases that come through Diamond City than anyone else I know. That makes him good in my book”.</p><p>            She stopped talking, pointing ahead to bright lights at the end of the subway tunnel. There were three guards patrolling in front of a giant Vault door.</p><p>            “Well, now that’s a hideout worth talking about. No wonder Skinny Malone’s crew seems to have gotten so large recently”.</p><p>#</p><p>            “There’s a lot of ghouls here,” Nora said, as they skipped over the bodies of various gangster’s they’d gunned down while travelling through the Vault.</p><p>            “That’s Goodneighbor for you,” Piper explained. They had just finished climbing down a ladder that led to a lower level of the Vault. There were no Dwellers in Vault 114 on account of the Vault not having been completed before the bombs fell. The corridors were still filled with construction equipment and half-unpacked Vault utilities.</p><p>            <em>Experiment Vault, or control Vault?</em> Nora questioned. With no evidence of habitation outside of the current residents, it was difficult to say. She wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact that none of the skeletons they passed in the subway tunnels had a chance to make it to the Vault.</p><p>            “Goodneighbor’s full of all the undesirables of the Commonwealth, Blue. I hate to lump the smarter ghouls in with that mix, but the ones that got kicked out of Diamond City when Mayor McDonough took office had nowhere else to go. I wonder how many of them would just be regular traders or laborers if they didn’t have to go to Goodneighbor and fall in with the mob,” Piper lamented.</p><p>            “So, the whole city is just one major crime den?”</p><p>            “It’s got its ups and downs, Blue. Most of the organized gangs and illicit businesses of the Commonwealth have a hand in the pot at Goodneighbor, so yeah, it’s a crime den. But that’s not the only thing that Goodneighbor is good for, and it’s also not like shady stuff doesn’t happen in Diamond City or Bunker Hill either. A lot of people who’ve burned bridges in the past with the wrong people end up in Goodneighbor precisely because it’s a crime den; if you pay the right gang their protection fees, you don’t have to worry about people hunting you down. There are also plenty of refugee ghouls that were forced to go to Goodneighbor since Bunker Hill won’t have them either. Some of them live honest lives running stores or doing manual labor there, and the city’s mayor, Hancock, is sympathetic to their cause. As far as Hancock’s concerned, as long as you don’t undermine his authority, you can find safe haven in Goodneighbor. Goes double for the ghouls since he’s a ghoul himself”.</p><p>            “Any words of advice if I ever go there?”    </p><p>            “Some people’s toes are more dangerous than others, Blue. Watch where you step”.</p><p>            At the end of the corridor was a large, hydraulic door. It was painted red, like the end of the utility hallway they’d just walked through. The door had faded white lettering on it from the Vault-Tec era: END OF UTILITY SECTION. CONNECT TO VAULT ATRIUM. Piper flipped a switch to activate the door, and it unsealed seamlessly to reveal a Vault atrium Nora had previously only seen in catalogs.</p><p>            When she’d stumbled through Vault 111, she’d noticed that Vault had been noticeably smaller. The Vault staff and security forces were only meant to live there for a short period of time. The actual Dwellers like herself had been trapped in cryo-pods with no need for any extra living space. Vault 114, conversely, was built for long-term habitation and use.</p><p>            “I wonder what kind of experiment they’d meant to do on these people,” Piper sighed.</p><p>            “Would they do experiments? If they had the people living in them like this?”</p><p>            “Not all experiments required Vault-Tec to stuff its test subjects in a freezer, Blue. Some experiments probably demanded the exact opposite…”</p><p>            On the far side of the atrium, two floors up, Nora could see the vague silhouette of one of the gangsters, facing the opposite direction from where the group was standing. He seemed to be talking to whoever was on the other side of the window he was facing.</p><p>            “How you doin’ in there Valentine? Feelin’ hungry? Want a snack?”</p><p>            “Nick!” Piper whispered sharply. She pointed to a set of stairs on their left flank. “Let’s hurry up there and jump that guy. He can’t possibly get all three of us if we get the drop on him”.</p><p>            <em>We’ve already shot up a Vault full of his friends, </em>something in Nora said rather sarcastically. <em>Why not?</em></p><p>            As they inched up the stairs, Nora could hear the rest of the conversation. Nick had a booming voice that didn’t sound quite Bostonian. She tried to place the accent while they crept up the stairs.</p><p>            “Keep talking, meat head,” Nick’s retorted at the mobster. “It’ll give Skinny Malone more time to think about how he’s gonna bump you off”.</p><p>            “Don’t gimme that crap, Valentine. You know nothin’. You got nothin’”. Nora let the banter continue as she inched up to the top of the steps and aimed her pistol. She focused the sight directly on the mobster’s head. They were far too close to Nick now to allow for any slip-ups.</p><p>            “Really? I saw him writing your name down in that black book of his. ‘Lousy cheating card-shark’. I think those were his exact words. Then he struck the name across three times”.</p><p>            Confident as he’d sounded in his ominous warning to his captor, Nick Valentine was the most surprised to suddenly see a jet of blood and gore shoot out of what had used to be Dino’s head. He waited in the back of the dimly lit office for a moment, to see if his bluff had manifested into reality or of something else was afoot. It was therefore a welcome sight to see Piper, a Mr. Handy and an unknown woman in army fatigues run up to the window. As he instinctively lit a cigarette --- old habit --- he yelled through the thick window at the woman in the army uniform.</p><p>            “Hey, you! I don’t know who you are, but we have about three minutes before they realize muscle-for-brains isn’t coming back! Get this door open!”</p><p>            “Overseer’s Office terminal,” Piper muttered. The experiment that never took place in Vault 114 was to apparently make the Vault as inconvenient as possible to live in.</p><p>            “No,” she yelled at the terminal. “I don’t want to take a number!”</p><p>            “Lemme see if I can override it,” Nora said, pushing Piper aside gently and manipulating the terminal. She wasn’t fantastic at <em>unlocking</em> the terminals, but since this one was already open…</p><p>            …<em>Click.</em></p><p>A satisfying sound marked the lock on the Overseer’s hydraulic door disengaging. Piper opened the door, with Nora and Codsworth following. Nick stepped forward to reveal himself in the dim light of the Overseer’s office, and Nora suddenly felt her blood go cold.</p><p>            He was all metal and plastic, with bits of endo-skeleton sticking out and entire chunks of plastic covering missing. Rather than the naked synths running around Arc-Jet, Nick was dressed in a faded gray trenchcoat and fedora. The cigarette was perched inexplicably between metal fingers, occasionally being drawn up to a metal mouth. Glowing yellow eyes like those at Arc-Jet gazed back at Nora suspiciously.</p><p>            He smiled at Nora and Piper. “Gotta love the irony of the reverse damsel-in-distress scenario. I’m sure I can guess why Piper is here, but why did our other heroine risk life and limb for an old private eye?”</p><p>            “Nick, she really needs your help,” Piper explained. “This is Nora. She came into Diamond City looking for you with the craziest missing person case you’ve ever seen. Problem is, you were also missing”.</p><p>            “Well, I’m here now,” Nick smiled. “Let’s get out of this crazy place and back to Diamond City, and we can talk about looking for whoever else you’re needing to find afterwards”. He turned to Nora.</p><p>            “That’s true though, right? You’re looking for a missing person”.</p><p>            Nora was too frozen to speak. Nick’s gaze became a bit more intense. If he had eyebrows, they would have furrowed a bit.</p><p>            “I know the skin and metal parts aren’t comforting, but it’s not important right now”.</p><p>            “Right…no, sorry”, Nora said, snapping out of it. “It’s just…last time I saw an Institute synth, they were all shooting at me”.</p><p>            “Oh, well I’m sorry to hear that,” Nick said, as he headed for the door and coaxed the rest of the group to follow him out of the Vault. “That’s definitely a much better reason to be a little more apprehensive of someone like me. Don’t worry though, I’m not an <em>Institute</em> synth”.</p><p>            “Other groups can build synths too?” Nora questioned. Piper let out a chuckle.</p><p>            “You mis-understand, Blue. The more advanced the synths got, the more they started getting their own personalities. The ones you ran into are what they call Gen-1 and Gen-2 synths. Those are the metal and plastic robots that shoot people and raid buildings”.</p><p>            “There are the flesh-and-blood ones too, that pass for human,” Nick mentioned. “Those are the Gen-3 ones. As far as we know, that’s the current generation of synths on the Institute assembly line. There’s a lot to be said about Gen-3 synths, but I’m somewhere in between them and Gen-2”.</p><p>            They entered a room full of angry mobsters as Nick guided them through the half-built residential areas of the Vault, back up to the Vault entrance. There was a pause in conversation as another shootout began. With Nick and Piper both at her side, however, Nora noticed the fights were becoming increasingly one-sided in her favor.</p><p>            “I’m a prototype synth. I guess I was one of their first attempts at sandwiching personality into the Institute circuits,” Nick explained. “I remember being experimented on in some lab for god-knows-how-long…and then one day, when they were done with me, I was on the outside of the Institute, in a trash heap. Anyway, unto present matters. I tracked the kidnapped girl I was looking for down to Park Street Station and Skinny Malone’s gang. Since then, I’ve been cooped up here for a couple of weeks. The runaway daughter I was hired to find wasn’t kidnapped after all. She’s Skinny Malone’s new flame, and she’s got a mean streak. Malone used to be small-time until he found this Vault".</p><p>            They reached a set of stairs that took them to the top floor of the Vault. There was another red hydraulic door that Nick had to struggle to unlock before he turned to face the others. As soon as the lock disengaged, Nick lowered his voice.</p><p>            “Alright, I’ve got the door open, but I hear big fat footsteps on the other side. When I open this door, be ready for anything”.</p><p>            Everyone took a moment to reload their guns or clean the blood off of their buzzsaw before Nick opened the door.</p><p>#</p><p>            The first couple of guards that Nora, Codsworth, and Piper had gone through were still laying close by the Vault Door. In between that door and the Diamond City group stood several mean-looking mobsters armed with submachine guns and baseball bats. The sole woman of the group --- the woman Nick had come here to try and find --- held a steel bat with barbed wire wrapped tightly around the shaft. Next to that woman was a large man in a formal hat and a tuxedo that was one size too small for him.</p><p>            The man in the tuxedo looked over the group, re-focused his gaze on Nick Valentine, and spoke first.</p><p>            “Nicky? What’re you doin’? You come into my house, shoot up my guys… you have any idea how much this is gonna set me back?”</p><p>            “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for your two-timing dame, Skinny. You oughta’ tell her to write home more often”.</p><p>            The woman with the steel bat sneered. “Aww… poor little Valentine. Ashamed you got beat up by a girl? I’ll just run back home to Daddy, shall I?”</p><p>            Her hands swung the baseball bat down to the floor, and Nora could hear a loud clunk and the resounding echo of the steel bat’s vibrations emanating into the open air. She remembered one of Moe Cronin’s slogans from his Swatter shop --- <em>Best Skull-Bashers in the Commonwealth!</em> Moe likely stayed in business for a good reason; one well-aimed hit from that bat would likely be all the short, angry woman in the sequined dress needed to shut down anyone who got in her way.</p><p>            Skinny Malone’s flamed turned to look at her beau somewhat accusingly. “I told you we should have just killed him, but then you had to get all sentimental! All that stupid crap about the ‘old times’”.</p><p>            “Darla,” Skinny Malone said, “I’m handling this! Skinny Malone’s always got things under control”.</p><p>            Piper, Codsworth, and Nick were all tensing up for a fight. As Nora began to do the same, she watched Skinny and Darla carefully.</p><p>            <em>Maybe there’s a way to get out of this without another fight…</em></p><p>            Truth be told, she was tired of fighting. Even in the name of her son or her own survival, she questioned what kind of world it was where all problems had to be solved with violence and bloodshed. She imagined Nate’s face in the photo that was stashed in her Pip-Boy and asked herself if he would approve of how she’d handled things so far.</p><p>            “This is all just a misunderstanding, Skinny,” she said finally, finding her courage. “You know that. You let us walk, and we won’t come back”.</p><p>            The other mobsters looked at Nora and began laughing. Piper and Nick looked at her somewhat worriedly. “Blue, what are you doing?” Piper hissed.</p><p>            “Like hell you won’t!” Skinny retorted. “Don’t you get it? All the other crews will see this as weakness, and then they’ll come for me”.</p><p>            “Wait!” Nora continued. “You wanna talk about <em>weakness</em>? Look at yourself. Darla is playing you for a sap. You’re better than this. Better than her”. It grew eerily quiet in the Vault. The mobsters and Darla all looked at Nora with a certain gaze that told her she was about to be the first one they aimed at.</p><p>            <em>Dammit, did I screw this up?</em></p><p>Skinny Malone’s eyes widened as he looked back at Darla and then to Nora.</p><p>            “Y…You…”</p><p>            Nora felt her heart nearly launch into her throat. She braced for the bullets from several submachine guns.</p><p>            “You’re right…”</p><p>            “WHAT?” Darla demanded. Skinny Malone looked back at Darla ominously.</p><p>            “Things have gone nothing but south for me since she entered my life”.</p><p>            “What’re you talking about Skinny?” Darla pleaded.</p><p>            Nick lowered his gun and gestured for Piper to do the same. “I never expected this, but I’ll take it as an option”.</p><p>            “I’m saying,” Skinny Malone continued, “that you’ve been draggin’ me and this whole operation down a bad road, toots. We’re through”.</p><p>            “Ugh! Fine! I’m going back home. I don’t need you, you fat ass!” Darla angrily swung the baseball bat, knocking over several shelves of Vault-Tec jumpsuits as she stormed out of the Vault.</p><p>            “They always gotta hit you where it hurts,” Skinny Malone lamented, before pointing at Nick and his rescuers. “You four. You got until the count of ten. After that, if you’re still in this Vault or in my sights, I gun every last one of you down”.</p><p>#</p><p>            A service ladder not far from the Vault entrance took the group a block or two away from Boston Common. Swan was no longer screaming and throwing a tantrum, though his footsteps could still be heard as he paced the Common. Luckily, Diamond City was in the opposite direction. After everyone had climbed up to the top of the ladder and emerged from the manhole on the street, Nick took a moment to gaze up at the stars in the sky. The sun had gone down. Nora had never stopped to consider how many stars were overhead before. Boston’s pre-War light pollution had always obscured this kind of view. One small comfort to her at that moment was that the beautiful view overhead was something she and Shaun could both have in common, in this new world.</p><p>            “Ah,” Nick marveled, looking up as well. “Look at that Commonwealth sky. Never thought anything so naturally ominous could end up looking so inviting. Piper, how’d you find out I was missing?”</p><p>            “From her,” Piper said, pointing at Nora.</p><p>            “And how’d <em>you</em> figure out how to find me?”</p><p>            “Your secretary, Ellie. She told me where you were”.</p><p>            “I should give her a raise,” Nick laughed. “Now, you mentioned something about a missing person case”.</p><p>            “Nick, it’s bad,” Piper explained. “The missing person…<em>it’s Nora’s infant son</em>”. Nick’s eyes widened with disgust and shock.</p><p>            “Really…that’s a particularly disturbing situation. I want you to head to Diamond City with me. Once we’re back in the office, we’ll go over the details. We may as well all head back together”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. The Devil is in The Details</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 8:In which the identity of Shaun Mulyer's kidnapper becomes apparent.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS</h1><p>
  <em>“This ain’t no place for no better man/this ain’t no place for no hero/to call home”. – The Heavy “Short Change Hero”</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>            “I’ll be with you in a moment,” Nora said, breaking off from the group once they returned to Diamond City. “I paid the Bobrov brothers for a night at the Dugout Inn, and my time runs out tomorrow morning. I’d better go put some more Caps down”.</p><p>            “Oh man,” Nick responded as Nora began to walk away, “kid! Here. Take these ten Caps for your trouble. You wound up paying Vadim for nothing because of me; I should at least pay your room and board fee”.</p><p>            “I would have had to go anyway, Nora said, turning down the Caps. “I’m probably going to be in Diamond City for at least another couple of days”.</p><p>            “We still have to pick up your Vault Suit from the department store, Mum,” Codsworth added. “Mrs. Fallon said it would be another day or so”.</p><p>            “Vault Suit?” Nick questioned, as Piper walked alongside him.</p><p>            “I’ll fill you in on the details while she pays the rent, Nicky,” Piper added. “Blue! Hope you don’t mind me sitting in on the investigation. I’m going to make sure everyone in the Commonwealth knows about Shaun before too long”.</p><p>            “Let’s be careful about that,” Nick said. “We might wanna investigate a little bit before we just start telling everyone the fine details of the case. Never know who reads the paper”.</p><p>#</p><p>            With two more days put on the timer for the Dugout Inn, Nora raced back to the Valentine Detective Agency. The office was crowded --- Piper, Codsworth, Nick, and Ellie were all waiting for her.</p><p>            “You’re back! You saved Nick, this agency, and my job! Thank you!”</p><p>            “It’s really no problem, Ellie”.</p><p>            “I know we didn’t have an amount on the table when you left, but I want you to have this,” Ellie insisted, handing a pouch full of Caps over to Nora and Codsworth.</p><p>            “Y’know, I’m about to hire Nick for this case. I don’t think it’s really appropriate to take your payment”.</p><p>            “I wasn’t gonna charge you anyway, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Nick laughed.</p><p>            “Well…let’s just leave it at that then. A job for a job, Nick? Besides, we’re likely to get a lot of money from what we picked up in the Vault”.</p><p>            “So gracious of you, Mum!” Codsworth nodded, before mechanically counting the bottlecaps in his inventory. “Not to worry. I counted about one-thousand, five-hundred Caps following our excursion to Vault 114”.</p><p>            Nora sat down in a chair across from Nick as Ellie and Piper both took notes. Piper had agreed to suspend writing an article about the investigation until it had progressed a little further. When this interview was done, she still planned to write her first article about Nora, but this would be a general article rather than an expose.</p><p>            “Now, tell me everything you remember,” Nick told Nora. “No matter how painful it might be. When you’re trying to find someone, the devil is in the details”.</p><p>            “Well,” Nora sighed. “As I’m sure Piper might have already told you, we’re looking for my son, Shaun. He’s less than a year old— or at least he was when he was taken”.</p><p>            “I don’t completely understand that concept,” Nick mentioned. “Piper tells me you’re originally from a cryo-Vault, and that you were on ice the whole time this was going on. Now, she did mention you were conscious to see Shaun being taken. How did you get out of the pod?”  <br/>
            “I don’t completely know,” Nora mentioned. “I remember the cold coming back and falling asleep, and then I remember waking back up with the door to the pod opening up. I practically fell out”.</p><p>            “Were the pods manual release only? Or were they built for remote monitoring? Do you know?”</p><p>            Nora remembered the Overseer’s terminal from Vault 111. The Vault-Tec network really <em>had</em> been remotely monitored.</p><p>            “Vault-Tec…”</p><p>            “As far as who released you, that’s a slim possibility. Vault-Tec itself doesn’t seem like they’re still kicking in the Commonwealth. Maybe their system was set to release you automatically under certain circumstances, but they certainly wouldn’t have been the ones kidnapping Shaun if you were already in their cryo-pods. Of course, if Vault-Tec had some kind of automatic remote override, it probably would have triggered after whoever broke into the Vault actually broke in”.</p><p>            “So more likely,” Nick continued after thinking for a minute, “you were intentionally released by the same entity that came into the Vault and kidnapped your son. That means said kidnapper had to have enough technical know-how to break into Vault-Tec’s systems, and there’s not a whole lot of people who can do that. Let’s also consider the fact that you were underground and on ice. That’s a lot of obstacles to get to just one person. Why you, and why your family in particular?”</p><p>            He pointed to Nora’s wedding ring. “You know, normally when a parent comes in and says their kid has been kidnapped, I start off with the other parent. Now I know your husband is dead because Piper already filled me in on that part. You were released, your son was kidnapped, and your husband was killed. Did either of you have any enemies?”</p><p>            “I don’t know how long it was that we were frozen in the Vault before they came for us, but it’s pretty safe to say that everyone who knew us were either in the Vault with us, or long-dead”.</p><p>            “So Piper wasn’t making up any non-sense when she said you were over two-hundred years old,” Nick nodded. “I always thought I was one of the oldest people in Diamond City. With that being said, two centuries is a long time. If it was someone from your time who decided they wanted Shaun for some reason, whatever intel you on Shaun still being alive wouldn’t make much sense. No one from your time would have waited that long except a ghoul, and I don’t know any ghouls with the technical know-how to pull off what you’re describing”.</p><p>            “The people who came into the Vault weren’t ghouls,” Nora said.</p><p>            “And no normal human could have lived long enough to take your son and then still prompt your remote release within your son’s lifetime. This kidnapping was at least somewhat recent,” Nick grinned. “That settles it. The merc who took your son would have passed through one of the major hubs of the Commonwealth at some point. It might not have been Diamond City, but there’s not a whole lot of other options”.</p><p>            “We need to know what the kidnapper looked like,” Piper said, turning a page on her notepad.</p><p>            “Well, one of them came right up to me,” Nora elaborated. “The other one --- the one that actually grabbed Shaun --- she was a woman dressed completely from head-to-toe in a clean suit. The man that shot my husband though, he walked up to me. Called me ‘the back-up’. He was dressed in an outfit with some kind of armor on the left side. He was bald…”</p><p>            “Oh!” Nora exclaimed. “That’s right. He had a scar over his left eye. Straight down!”</p><p>            “Wait…” Nick said, recognizing the description. Nora could hear Piper whispering “jackpot” in the background.</p><p>            “It couldn’t be! You didn’t hear the name ‘Kellogg’ at all, did you?”</p><p>            “No,” Nora said. “They never mentioned their names”.</p><p>            “The description matches,” Ellie said from the background. “Bald head. Scar. Reputation for dangerous mercenary work. No one knows who his employer is though”.</p><p>            “And he bought a house here in town right? And he had a kid with him?”</p><p>            “The house in the abandoned West Stands,” Ellie continued, “The kid was about ten-years old”.</p><p>            “Is that kid still here?” Nora asked excitedly. “It might be Shaun…”</p><p>            “I think you’re jumping to conclusions,” Nick chided. “Shaun’s an infant, and that kid was ten. That’s a nine-year difference by my count until we know any different. Maybe Kellogg’s turned kidnapping into a bad habit, or maybe he’s got a kid of his own. Either way, what’s say you and I pay Kellogg’s old house in the Stands a visit?”</p><p>#</p><p>            Diamond City’s network of shacks was so extensive that it even encompassed the stands above the outfield. There were the West Stands, the East Stands, the Outfield, and the Upper Stands. Nick explained to Nora on the way that each division of Diamond City encompassed a different part of society, although whether or not this layout happened by design or simply as a matter of circumstance was debatable.</p><p>            The actual baseball field contained the middle-class residents and most of the businesses. The vast majority of the businesses were concentrated around second base by the marketplace, but there were businesses that extended towards home plate (like Publick Occurrences), and businesses that were back by the outfield (like Diamond City Radio). The East Stands were an extension of the residential areas on the baseball field, although they also contained a few small utility buildings. The West Stands were now deserted; most of those homes had once belonged to the ghouls who had inhabited Diamond City before they were ejected by Mayor McDonough. The two dugouts on the east and west sides of Fenway Park had been converted respectively to the Dugout Inn and the headquarters of Diamond City Security. The Outfield was where the poor of Diamond City lived. Some of them slept under cloth canopies on old ratty mattresses in the dirt, while others made their way to the Outfield at night to the smallest makeshift shacks, or to sleeping under the benches. Conversely, the Upper Stands contained the Mayor’s office, residence, and the homes of Diamond City’s wealthier or more influential residents.</p><p>            The house that had been leased to Conrad Kellogg was a leftover from the eviction of the ghouls from Diamond City; it was relatively close to the field, just above the Security Office. Nick Valentine asked Nora and Codsworth to keep an eye out for security while he tried to pick the lock. Kellogg and the young boy had vacated the house a month before Nora’s arrival in Diamond City, but given their speed of their sudden departure, Nick questioned if the house was completely empty.</p><p>            “That’s one hell of a lock, Kellogg. Got something to hide?”</p><p>            Most of the shacks in Diamond City had relatively ramshackle locks that required a low amount of skill to break. Diamond City instead deterred theft by a near constant patrol of various officers. The priority targets for theft were the businesses and Upper Stands, so those areas in particular were manned constantly. Conversely, the Outfield and the West Stands received little attention.</p><p>            Nick pointed near the city entrance. There was an elevator platform attached to the same set of steps that led to the Upper Stands. “You see that platform in the distance? Near the city’s entrance? That’s the entrance to the Mayor’s office. Why don’t you go ask around there? I’ll stay here and see if I can jimmy this lock”.</p><p>            It wasn’t hard to scale the steps back down to the main field and then take the road passing by the Security office straight back to the main entrance for Diamond City. From there, Nora simply followed the steps to the Upper Stands before stepping unto the elevator platform. Once she and Codsworth were both situated, she pushed a button, and the elevator slowly lurched to the surface.</p><p>            “This thing looks like it could fall at any moment, Mum,” Codsworth said concernedly about the makeshift elevator that had been rigged to the Mayor’s office. The office in question was partially built out of the overhang that used to be where the announcers would work from before the War. Like Nick, the Mayor had a secretary working late --- a bored looking woman with straight blonde hair and a rather polished, clean looking outfit.</p><p>            She was engaged in a shouting match with Piper Wright.</p><p>            “You ever thought you could get a man’s attention easier if you used softer words, honey? Maybe shout a little less?”</p><p>            “Ah,” Piper laughed, “that reminds of this article I’ve been writing about the Mayor’s affair with a certain air-headed blonde…”</p><p>            “If you are done crowding the reception area, Miss Piper, I believe the mayor needs to make time for more responsible citizens?” The secretary’s eyes glanced towards Nora.</p><p>            “Hmph,” Piper said, turning away from the woman and looking a bit confusedly at Nora. “I was just leaving anyway”.</p><p>            Piper had deigned not to intrude upon whatever Nora was doing in the Mayor’s office. As Nora approached the secretary’s desk, she noticed a makeshift nameplate with the name “Geneva” on it.</p><p>            Geneva glanced at Nora blankly. “The mayor’s receiving visitors, as long as they aren’t members of the press. Did you need help?”</p><p>            Nora put on a plastic, pre-War smile. From what she’d seen of Geneva and the Mayor so far, it was best to handle them delicately --- butter them up, so to speak. She let her mind roll back to memories of sitting through long meetings by the Sanctuary Homeowners Association, and that time the Mulyer household had gotten a notice about a plastic flamingo Nate had put in the front yard. <em>They’re just politicians in the game of petty local politics. You’re a lawyer. You’ve got this.</em></p><p>            “The mayor can see me now? It’s a rather urgent matter”.</p><p>            “Again, as long as you’re not with the press, head on inside. Your name please?”</p><p>            “Nora Mulyer. I’m just arrived this morning”.</p><p>            Geneva touched a button on her desk to page the Mayor. “Mr. McDonough, there’s a woman here to see you. Miss…”</p><p>            Her fingers caught a glimpse of Nora’s wedding ring.</p><p>            “Sorry, <em>Mrs.</em> Mulyer. She just arrived this morning. She says it’s urgent”.</p><p>            “Send her in”.</p><p>#</p><p>            It looked like the Mayor were close to retiring for the night. When Nora reached the office, the Mayor was clearing the last of his documents from a desk to put into a filing cabinet.</p><p>            “Ah yes,” he beamed, putting on what Nora recognized as a plastic smile of his own, “I remember you. I wish I were in your shoes, getting to see our glorious city for the first time. What can I help you with?”</p><p>            Nora chose her next words carefully, putting on a slight façade of crocodile tears. “Mayor McDonough, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I came here looking for my baby boy. He was kidnapped”.</p><p>            “Look,” the Mayor said, almost immediately attempting to shut her down, “I’m sorry but I already told you I can’t spare any men to—”</p><p>            “I understand your security concerns. I wouldn’t want to cause any problems for Diamond City Security after you’ve been such gracious hosts to me. I managed to hire a detective to see to my own private worries, so I won’t be distracting any of your officers from keeping the city safe”.</p><p>            “I,” the Mayor stammered, unsure where she was going with this, “I see…”</p><p>            “However,” Nora added, trying her best to be a bit coy, “it’s just…well…this is gonna sound strange, sir”.</p><p>            “I’m listening…”</p><p>            “We think…we think a man who lived in the West Stands recently may have had something to do with my son’s disappearance. His name was Kellogg?”</p><p>            The Mayor’s eyes narrowed. “I see…” he began.</p><p>            “So…we need to search his house. I understand he no longer lives there but I was still hoping for your permission, since you’re the Mayor and all…”</p><p>            Nora looked away for a moment, feigning shyness, and saw that Geneva had been listening in on the conversation. The secretary said nothing, however, looking blankly back at Nora and the Mayor and waiting on his input.</p><p>            “I’m sorry,” the Mayor said sternly. “But, however horrible the crimes of this man Kellogg, I can’t grant you permission to break into his home and search his belongings just based off of hearsay”.</p><p>            “What if I had you come with me?” Nora asked innocently. “If the Mayor were around for this sanctioned search, then you could attest to it being lawful and done out of goodwill. I only want to find my son”.</p><p>            “Security is one of the things that makes Diamond City so great,” the Mayor mumbled, “and as moving as your situation may be, I can’t put the needs of one person over the whole of the city. I’m afraid this just won’t be possible”.</p><p>            He started to step forward, cutting off the amount of space in the room to casually eject Nora from his office. “I believe we have nothing to discuss. If that’s all—oops!”</p><p>            He dropped some of the files in his hands. Nora noticed one of them seemed to have a strange symbol on it, reminding her vaguely of the Vitruvian man. Before she could bend down to help him with his papers, he practically shoved her away.</p><p>            “I’m alright, leave me be. I can clean up this mess myself. Geneva, close off any further visitors for the night. I’m feeling tired”.</p><p>            A guard posted to the Mayor’s office eyed Nora suspiciously, but looked away when she made the smart decision to comply and vacate the Mayor’s office. Being coy hadn’t worked. She felt like she could cry for real this time.</p><p>            Out of desperation, she looked to Geneva, who was starting to close up her own desk for the night and waiting for Nora to leave. Geneva had touched another button on her desk, closing the Mayor’s office off from the reception area. There were no guards in the room.</p><p>            “Please,” Nora said sincerely. “All I wanna do is find my baby. The man who owned that house kidnapped him…”</p><p>            There was a long pause before Geneva said softly, “Your baby’s lucky to have a mother like you. I hope you find him”. She reached into a file cabinet behind her desk and searched carefully for a moment before producing a manilla folder. Opening it up, she removed a key which had been taped to the inside and set it down very, very quietly on her desk.</p><p>            Her voice became a bit more stern. “I know you’re upset, Mrs. Mulyer, but you already got your answer”. She placed one manicured finger next to the key on her desk, signalling Nora to take it.</p><p>            “You’ve already gotten your answer from the Mayor. I’m sorry, but he cannot assist you. Please vacate the office so we can close”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Kellogg’s house was rather unassuming. When the door finally opened, there was nothing but a small shack with a living room and bedroom area. There was a somewhat large bedframe clearly meant for Kellogg, and a smaller mattress off to the side that had been used for the child.</p><p>            “I didn’t want Ellie to hear this,” Nick mentioned while they had some privacy, “but I think you should know. Everything I dug up about Kellogg before his disappearance is bad news. He’s more than just a mercenary. He’s a professional: quick, clean, merciless. He has no enemies, because they’re all dead… except you. It’s not just you identifying his distinguishing feature; the MO is all his as well. Leading a small team to kidnap a baby and then leaving one of the parents for later? Not many mercs in the Commonwealth could pull that off”.</p><p>            They were speaking as Nick and Nora searched through Kellogg’s tiny trailer.</p><p>            <em>Funny, it seemed so much larger from the outs—</em></p><p>Under a desk, there was a button. Pushing it, Nora heard something move.</p><p>            “Well,” Nick said, looking at the new space that had opened up at the front of the trailer, “that’s one way to hide a room”.</p><p>            The room was lined with shelves that contained various foodstuffs, medicines, and weaponry. A table by a comfy looking armchair contained a couple of a 44-caliber bullets and a very strange looking box of cigars.</p><p>            “San Francisco Sunlights,” Nora read aloud.</p><p>            “Interesting brand. Won’t get us anywhere on its own, though. If only we had a way to track the scent”.</p><p>            Nora’s mind flashed to the dog that had accompanied her in Concord. Mama Murphy seemed closed enough to the dog. When Codsworth and Nora had left for Diamond City, the pooch remained in Sanctuary with the elderly seer.</p><p>            “Sanctuary!” Nora exclaimed aloud. Nick Valentine looked at her with confusion.</p><p>            “Indeed, Mum,” Codsworth elaborated. “That pooch was extremely helpful”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. A Ghost Story</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 9: In which Nora has a dream about the past, the present, and the future.</p><p>(This is meant to be a story with at least some focus on Nate x Nora, after all)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>A GHOST STORY</h1><p>
  <em>“My ghost/where’d you go?/I can’t find you in the body sleeping next to me/My ghost/where’d you go?/What happened to the soul that you used to be?” – Halsey “Ghost”</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>     She was dreaming of Nate. She’d spent a full hour looking at her old family photo and listening to Nate’s voice on the holotape. Hearing their voices was the only thing that helped her sleep at night. It wasn’t as restful as <em>not</em> crying herself to sleep, but exhaustion wasn’t an option while her son was still at large.</p><p>     The Vault Suit was gone, replaced by her favorite pre-War dress. It was ivory in color, down to her knees, with a pattern of large red flowers. The army fatigues were clean, and it was Nate that was wearing them instead.</p><p>     They had a white picket-fence and the greenest grass Nora had ever seen. She had happy memories of unpacking her furniture as they moved into the Cape Cod house which had been their last home together. At first, they had no idea what to do with the spare room across from their bedroom. Their thoughts wandered from office space to recreational area. When an ill-time joke turned them to thoughts of the future, they’d spent that night in bed holding each other in a warm embrace all night.</p><p>     Nate’s altruism and character had been what made her fall in love with him, but there were other things that made being Mrs. Mulyer worthwhile: the way he held her in his arms, the way their bodies almost seemed to lock perfectly together --- the way he made her feel like she was the only woman in the world. She’d gone to sleep in his arms that night, exhausted and dreaming of every night being as passionate as this one. They were practically made for each other. Losing him was like losing a piece of herself.</p><p>     In her dream, she woke up alone. Her clothes were still strewn across the bedroom floor. Any trace of Nate was nowhere to be seen. It was dark, and from the next room, Nora could hear Shaun’s cries.</p><p>     “Baby?” Nora rose sharply from her bed and hastily grabbed a nightgown from the closet. She ran to the nursery and went to Shaun’s crib. Her child was wailing inconsolably.</p><p>     “Shhh…” she picked Shaun up and held him close, rocking him back and forth. He simply refused to calm down.</p><p>     “It’s okay. Mommy’s here. Mommy’s here!”</p><p>     Just when she thought she wasn’t getting anywhere, she felt Shaun slowly begin to calm down. She rubbed her son’s back softly in an effort to continue comforting him. Suddenly, she felt a wave of panic run through her as she realized that she was comforting an empty blanket.</p><p>     “Shaun?”</p><p>      She looked around the room. Nate and Nora had spent a lot of time putting the nursery together. Every detail was carefully glossed over to ensure that Shaun was as comfortable and happy as possible.</p><p>
  <em>      So why’s this nursery wrecked?</em>
</p><p>       It wasn’t just the nursery. The whole house was wrecked and reverted to its post-War state. Her nightgown was gone, replaced with her Vault Suit.</p><p>       “Honey?” A male voice said.</p><p>       She turned around to see her husband in his own Vault Suit. Every detail about his appearance was perfect: even the frost around his ears and the gunshot wound penetrating his chest.</p><p>       “N-Nate?”</p><p>       “There are storm clouds gathering, Nora”. His eyes were frosted over, giving him a ghostly appearance. From the holes in the roof of the ceiling, Nora could hear the echoes of a thunderstorm rolling in. The sky and the atmosphere became a sickly shade of green. The lightning strikes pulsed around the house with deadly radioactive energy. Nate’s wispy form looked more translucent with every lightning strike and echo of thunder. The green tint in the air only served to make him look more sickly.</p><p>       “Nate, I don’t understand what you mean”.</p><p>       “This new world you’re in: the one that has our son? It’s dangerous, Nora. You’re going up against forces of nature you can’t understand”.</p><p>       “Nate…I can’t find Shaun”. Her words were becoming more desperate now. The memory of the hell she’d been through was re-surfacing in her mind. Nate seemed to fade into the darkness as her past and present gave way to reveal her future.</p><p>        She saw the face of Conrad Kellogg, staring back at her from the other side of the cryo-pod wall. Behind him, she saw the symbol of the Vitruvian Man. It was emblazoned in black and red against a banner of white, carried by an old man in a white lab coat with glasses that shone bright against the flashes of the storm. The old man was staring back at her, extending one hand, almost beckoning her to him.</p><p>       “You want to find your son, don’t you?” The old man’s soft voice said. “Follow…”</p><p>       “Honey, after you do find Shaun, I need you to promise me something,” Nate’s voice echoed ominously. It was all around her, from no definite source. His ghostly form had disappeared.</p><p>        Instead she saw the silhouette of a figure in an armored black coat. She could hear distorted voices in the background, echoing non-sensical phrases. “Unit Z2-47…Unit B5-92…Unit S9-23…Unit E9-87…”</p><p>        The figure in the black coat began to turn around.</p><p>        “Initiate factory reset: authorization code Echo, Charlie…”</p><p>        “Who are you?!” Nora demanded, looking at the man in the black coat. She looked back at the man in white and at Conrad Kellogg, who seemed to be surrounding her.  "What do you want with me?!" The old man merely said again “follow me…”</p><p>        Nora suddenly woke up to Codsworth informing her it was morning. Diamond City was hard to escape.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Back to the Beginning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 10: In which Nora heads back to Sanctuary to seek out a certain helpful canine.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>BACK TO THE BEGINNING</h1><p>
  <em>“I’m going to Wichita/far from this opera forevermore/I’m gonna work the straw/Make the swear drip out of every pore” – The White Stripes “Seven Nation Army”</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>            Being stuck on Diamond City for a couple of days allowed Nora to invest some time in areas where others had pointed out that she’d had some weaknesses. After selling off her salvage to Myrna and sitting on a modest bank of about two-thousand Caps, Nora’s first stop was back at Arturo’s store. For twenty-five Caps, he disassembled her pistol and showed Nora how to clean the gun, step-by-step.</p><p>            “I saw Becky Fallon working on a Vault Suit when I stopped by to get some leather,” Arturo mused. “I take it that’s yours? That’s the only explanation as to how you could have gotten to adulthood without knowing how to clean a pistol by now”.</p><p>            “Out on the surface, it seems like a lot of people have more survival skills than I do,” Nora sighed.</p><p>            “Well, yeah. We need them out here. I really hope my little Nina never has to leave the city, but I still taught her how to work a pistol at couple years ago. Just in case”.</p><p>            “How old is Nina?”</p><p>            “Ten,” Arturo said, finishing the last steps on re-assembling Nora’s gun. “She goes to school during the day-time at Mr. Zwicky’s. Eccentric man, if you ask me. He’s a little too interested in that robot of his, but other than that he’s a good guy”.</p><p>            “I heard the man who lived up in the West Stands for a while had a boy about that age,” Nora said. “Know anything about him?”</p><p>            “That kid? Brown-haired little guy. I only saw him once or twice. Sometimes he’d be at the schoolhouse, taking night-classes. Apparently Mr. Zwicky said that kid was pretty smart, though. Knew most of the Diamond City curriculum before he sat in one of the desks, that kid. They kept to themselves too much for me to remember anything else about them”.</p><p>            Arturo handed the gun back to Nora and said softly, “that merc was a cold customer though. If you’re going after that guy for any reason, you make sure you get good with that gun first. I suggest going to Outfield and getting some target practice in. There’s a little makeshift shooting range up there that some of the drifters set up for entertainment”.</p><p>            The remainder of the day was spent stocking up on ammunition and other general supplies, and getting a little target practice at the makeshift range that Arturo had recommended. The next morning, Nora stopped by Fallon’s to find that Becky had just finished her Vault Suit.</p><p>            “You have wonderful timing, dear,” Becky Fallon laughed, before giving Nora her Vault Suit and pointing to a secluded area where she could change. “Lemme know if I need to alter the size any. I had to expand the suit a little to make room for the insulation”. Slipping the army fatigues off and putting the insulated suit on with the leather armor, Nora felt quite protected. The suit definitely wasn’t at the point of stopping bullets, but it could dull a bite or a knife impact. It would also protect against the elements a bit better. Nora thanked Becky for her work, noting that no alterations had to be made, before leaving the shop and going to the Diamond City main entrance, where she’d agreed to meet Nick. She mused at Diamond City’s makeshift Halloween celebrations as she left. It was nice to know that two-hundred and ten years after the end of everything, some holidays lingered on.</p><p>            “Time to hit the road?” Nick said once she arrived. He’d already been there for about ten minutes.</p><p>            “Yeah, let’s get going,” Nora said.</p><p>#</p><p>            One of the nice things about travelling back and forth on the same major roads was that there was already some reasonable assurance of what lay waiting on those roads as obstacles. Nora worried at first about crossing back over the drawbridge leading into Cambridge, but was stunned to find out that Nick had a history with the raiders in question. The two raiders who were posted to the tollway saw Nick and immediately apologized before allowing the group to pass.</p><p>            “You know those guys, Nick?” Nora asked. Nick seemed as startled as Nora was to find that a raider was expressing sympathy for them, even though it was someone he’d recognized from the past.</p><p>            “I can’t say I remember him quite like that,” Nick said sadly, “but you can’t help who walks into the office looking for a missing person”.</p><p>            “Still, one good turn deserves another,” Codsworth mused. “It’s a shame that he ultimately chose to go down that particular avenue in his life, but it’s good to know we’re travelling with an individual of such fame!”</p><p>            “Not everyone loves the famous synth detective,” Nick said sardonically. “I’ve had plenty of rocks and bullets sent my way. Speaking of people who aren’t fans, I hear the Brotherhood of Steel set up shop here in Cambridge recently. They aren’t big fans of mine. Maybe we should take the back road”.</p><p>            “Do you mean Paladin Danse, Mr. Valentine?” Codsworth asked. “Mum and I recently got acquainted with the Brotherhood, actually. They seem like a somewhat upstanding group of individuals, at least as far as I saw”.</p><p>            “I can’t say I’ve had the pleasure,” Nick responded, before looking at Nora. “Don’t tell me you stand with the Brotherhood on certain political matters here in the Commonwealth? They’re no better than raiders sometimes, from what I hear”.</p><p>            “They were extremely nice to me,” Nora said. “Of course, I did respond to their distress signal when they were under attack”.</p><p>            “Yeah, and you’re not a ghoul or a synth. The Brotherhood aren’t too nice to anything they don’t consider human. Still, maybe that means we can take the front-road. I can usually talk my way out of a lot of situations, though I may need you to vouch for me a bit. If they liked you enough to pay you, they probably won’t try anything too stupid. How many of them are there anyway?”</p><p>            “Only three, at the police station,” Nora nodded. “Honestly, I should probably thank them for the help anyway. Maybe you should just stay back with Codsworth, to be safe…”</p><p>            She stopped and looked out into the distance. The Brotherhood’s barricade usually had either Rhys or Danse patrolling it, but there was currently no one to be seen.</p><p>            “It looks like no one is here,” Codsworth observed. Nick pointed down at the dirt. Two sets of normal footprints and a larger set of power armor tracks could be seen making their way into the Cambridge ruins. The Brotherhood recon squad were out on business.</p><p>            “These tracks are pretty fresh. Maybe that’s a sign we should just keep going our own way,” Nick nodded.</p><p>            “Perhaps it would be best to avoid any awkward situations,” Codsworth said. “Besides, we have business of our own”.</p><p>            “Yeah, you’re right,” Nora mentioned, before pulling out a few Stimpaks and some foodstuffs and putting them by the steps of the police station. Becky Fallon had enlarged the pockets on Nora’s vault suit. Nora pulled out some scrap paper and a pen and wrote, very carefully, “I passed by when you were out. -N.M”. After positioning the gift very carefully, she headed back out on the road with Codsworth and Nick to Sanctuary.</p><p>            From Cambridge, the group moved away from Lexington, following a back road to the Drumlin Diner that Nick had marked on Nora’s Pip-Boy as being safer to travel. The diner was inhabited by an old woman named Trudy and her adult son, who made their living selling salvage from nearby areas. Trudy’s usual customer was Carla, whom Nora had met when she first left for Diamond City, but Carla was currently nowhere to be seen.</p><p>            What Nora did see instead were two people outside the Drumlin Diner, dressed in road leathers, yelling at Trudy from outside the shop.</p><p>            “We had a deal, Trudy!”</p><p>            “I ain’t giving you poison-peddlin’ chem-pushers anything! Have you seen what that shit has done to my son?”</p><p>            “Last chance Trudy,” the male goon said, before turning his gun suddenly at Nick and Nora. “Woah woah, easy there ‘Vault-Girl’. This doesn’t involve you”.</p><p>            “Easy, I’m just passing through,” Nora said, putting her diplomacy skills to the test again. “Sounds like you need a bit of help. I could talk to her if you need?”<br/>
            “We’d appreciate that. If things go sideways, we’ll back you up”.</p><p>            “I don’t like the idea of helping out a shakedown,” Nick began.</p><p>            “I didn’t shake anyone down,” the drug-dealer said. “The kid bought product, fair and square! And he’s not a little boy. He can make his own decisions, but he has to pay!”</p><p>            Nora walked into the Diner slowly with her hands up. Trudy had a pipe pistol aimed at her head.</p><p>            “I saw you and that chem-dealer talking. Tell Wolfgang he ain’t getting his money, period”. As Trudy waved the gun in Nora’s face, Nora’s eyes glanced over at Trudy’s son, who looked to be somewhere between fifteen and twenty years of age. Young as he was, Nora had learned that this was old enough in the Wasteland to essentially be considered an adult. She looked back over to Trudy.</p><p>            “I understand you’re upset, but you owe them money. If you pay them for what your son took, this will all end peacefully”.</p><p>            “I don’t owe that chem-pusher shit! And I’m not about to hand him over anything that’ll let him keep pushing that crap to my son”.</p><p>            “I promise I won’t buy anymore,” the scared teenager said repeatedly, rocking himself in the corner. “I promise. I promise”.</p><p>            “Look at your son,” Nora said. “He’s terrified. If you really wanna make this go away for your boy, you need to make those mobsters go away. Shooting them is just going to bring more trouble. Getting your son some Addictol and helping him get clean won’t do that, but he won’t be left in peace to get clean unless you resolve this peacefully”.</p><p>            Trudy struggled for a moment before lowering the gun. “Alright. Fine. Tell that asshole he’ll get his damn money. Let me go grab my Caps-box”. After producing two-hundred Caps from her stash, she handed the money to Nora, who in turn handed it over to the dealers outside.</p><p>            “Alright,” Nora said, “her debts paid. She won’t be buying anymore though”.</p><p>            “Fine with me,” Wolfgang said. “Her son is broke as shit anyhow”.</p><p>            “Speaking of purchases,” Nora said, “how much for some Addictol?”</p><p>            “One-hundred and twenty-five Caps, but I’ll knock it down to twenty-five since I was gonna give you one-hundred for the negotiation”. Twenty-five Caps later, Nora took a vial of Addictol and put it on Trudy’s counter.</p><p>            “I’m alright light enough in the pocket, thanks to you,” Trudy said bluntly.</p><p>            “Well, luckily for you, I’m not counting,” Nora said.</p><p>            “Everyone always has an agenda out here, Vault-Girl. If you aren’t in it for the Caps, what’s with the generosity?”</p><p>            “Call it a concerned gesture from one concerned mother to another,” Nora smiled. It seemed like everyone near the shop, from Nick to Trudy to Wolfgang, all seemed to like that response.</p><p>            “Now that’s a way to command respect around here,” Nick said after they left the Diner. “I was worried kid, but I shouldn’t have been. Good job”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Recon Squad Gladius didn’t normally like surprises. Good news was rare in their experience in the Commonwealth. Good surprises were even rarer. It was therefore quite a shock to find a pleasant surprise waiting for them on the steps of the Cambridge Police Station.</p><p>            “Fuck, how do we know that’s not a trap?” Knight Rhys echoed cautiously. Paladin Danse eyed the neatly-written note tucked under a can of pork-and-beans.</p><p>            “I passed by while you were out. -N.M”.</p><p>            “N.M?” Haylen said, before realizing, “wait…isn’t that—”</p><p>            “Nora Mulyer,” Danse chuckled. “I wonder if she decided to join up”. He examined the little pile left for the Brotherhood carefully. A few Stimpaks, some more cans of beans, and a pack of Fancy Lads Snack Cakes.</p><p>            “Oh,” Haylen teased, “Paladin Danse’s secret favorite snack. And there’s twelve of them in there. I trust that means Rhys and I each get four?” Danse felt a bit of heat rise up to his cheeks as Haylen pointed this out.</p><p>            “Consuming too many sweets isn’t conductive to a soldier’s routine,” Danse retorted.</p><p>            “We all need glucose, Paladin!” Haylen laughed.</p><p>            Knight Rhys looked visibly frustrated. “Great,” he said, rolling his eyes, “Top’s a fan of the Vault-Girl”.</p><p>            “Oh come on, Rhys! She was nice!” Scribe Haylen added. “Besides, it’s not like you don’t like Fancy Lads either”.</p><p>            Danse almost hoped he’d find Nora inside the police station, waiting for them with that chipper British robot of hers, before he remembered that they’d locked the police station up and set a booby trap up at the entrance.</p><p>#</p><p>            The first sign of Nora’s goodwill was the presence of the Deep Range Transmitter. Brotherhood broadcasts could now extend all the way to the Capital Wasteland under the right frequencies. Danse had a HAM radio in an upstairs room of the police station set to one particular frequency. After climbing out of this power armor for the evening, he walked upstairs and began to operate the radio.</p><p>            “Command, this is Paladin Danse of Reconnaissance Squad Gladius. Registration Delta, Nadir, Four, Zero, Seven, Patrol. Over”.</p><p>            “We read you, Paladin. Coming in loud and clear. What’s your latest report?”</p><p>            “We’re finding evidence of the same high-energy transmissions coming from Cambridge. No sign of what’s causing them, though. Scribe Haylen confirmed that they seem to be originating from around the old college campus, but radiation from a nearby blast crater might be causing some level of interference on our instruments”.</p><p>            “The area is also extremely dangerous, Command. That crater has attracted a glowing one, and the energy that it exudes attracts more ferals to the area. We’ve already been attacked once more at the station since we were lucky enough to get civilian assistance. Over”.</p><p>            “Any casualties, Paladin? Over”.</p><p>            “Not this time, thank God. Knight Rhys is a tough son-of-a-bitch. We’ve also gotten a recent gift of food and medicine. It’s a meager reward, but it comes from a trustworthy source, over”.</p><p>            “Was this the same civilian who assisted you during the last attack, over?”</p><p>            “It seems so. The aid was left for us by our doorstep with a note with her initials. It looks like the Vault Dweller stopped by while she was passing back through the area to Sanctuary, over”.</p><p>            “She rejected your invitation to join the Brotherhood, if I remember right, Paladin? Over”.</p><p>            “It doesn’t look like she’s currently in any position to accept. As I mentioned in my last report, she’s apparently reconnoitering the area in search of her missing child. It’s possible if she returned to where she came from that she might have found news of the young boy. In the meanwhile, I’ve been keeping an eye out for any information on a male infant. It might prove to be useful collateral if we deal with that particular civilian again, over”.</p><p>            “Don’t search too hard, Paladin. You have your own responsibilities first. Still, that’s not bad information to have. If this civilian is as resourceful as you say, she may prove useful in our war against the Institute. You should know that the Prydwen will be leaving the Capital Wasteland soon. Elder Maxson will be there as well to spearhead the operation. Once we’re in position within the Commonwealth, we’ll be in a position to afford your squad more assistance. In the meantime, if you see that civilian again and she agrees to join the Brotherhood, you should know that Elder Maxson is reviewing your recommendation to grant her the rank of Knight. Let us know of any developments. Anything else to report, Paladin? Over”.</p><p>            “I’m certainly glad to hear that we’re getting reinforcements. I’m looking forward to the Prydwen’s arrival. Nothing else to report, Command. Over and out”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Join or Die</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 11: In which Nora embraces a career as the General of the Minutemen. Whatever that means.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>JOIN OR DIE</h1><p>
  <em>“I seen ya round for a long, long time/I really remember you when you drank my wine/Why can’t we be friends/why can’t we be friends” – WAR “Why can’t we be friends”</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>            “We’ve been busy while you were gone, Nora,” Preston Garvey elaborated as he took Codsworth, Nora, and Nick on a tour though Sanctuary. The population had nearly doubled. Sturges had set up a recruitment beacon and some generators near the Rosa household. A couple new shacks were erected to the left of the Rosa house. Jun Long and one new settler patrolled the streets of Sanctuary diligently in makeshift uniforms cobbled together from raider attire. The farm behind the Rosa household had extended a bit further out towards the river. A couple of shops had opened up in what had once been Nora’s home.</p><p>            “We have a couple of settlers working to move supply to the truck stop and Abernathy Farm. You ever been to Abernathy Farm? Big place. They grow a lot of tatos there. Having them trading with us certainly helps”.</p><p>            “Yeah, you’ve got a little network here,” Nora smiled. “The Commonwealth Minutemen really know how to bring people together, huh?”</p><p>            “I’m trying to make up for the disaster at Quincy,” Preston said, almost sorry for himself. “We gotta show people that they can trust the Minutemen again. I’ve done what I can to keep this little corner of the Commonwealth safe, but it’s going to take a lot of work to get the Minutemen back into fighting shape”.</p><p>            He led the group into the Rosa house, sitting them down in the main room and offering Nora a Nuka-Cola. “Back before my day, the Minutemen used to be a force to be reckoned with. We almost had a Commonwealth Provisional Government set up before the Institute massacred them all”.</p><p>            “The Institute really massacred those people?” Nora asked in horror. Nick confirmed her fears.</p><p>            “I was around when that happened,” Nick sighed. “It was back in the 2230’s. People were just getting over the Broken Mask incident in Diamond City --- you remember that one, right? From Piper’s article? Every settlement with even a hint of clout sent representatives to a place just outside a settlement called University Point, which also doesn’t exist anymore. They chose that location because University Point was a pretty sizeable settlement at the time, not far off of Diamond City”.</p><p>            “And because it was close to the Castle,” Preston added. “In your day it was called Fort Independence. The Castle was the main headquarters of the Minutemen back before my time”.</p><p>            “Sounds like the Institute’s responsible for a lot of pain. No wonder people ask me if I think they’re responsible for my son”.</p><p>            “We’re not super sure about that one yet, Nora. Kellogg could work for anyone. What we do know is that the Institute sent a delegate to the CPG meeting too. That delegate killed all the other delegates there. Only a couple bystanders escaped, and after that the Minutemen never got a chance to try and rebuild it”.</p><p>            “They had their own problems,” Preston continued. “Not long after the issue with the CPG, the Castle got attacked by something. From the stories I heard about it when I was a kid, we’re pretty sure this wasn’t the Institute. It sounded like something that wasn’t quite human, but something big attacked the Castle and wiped out the headquarters in the early 2240’s. The Minutemen still managed to hang around after that for a bit. They were still clinging to dear life in the 2260s when I was a kid, but it all just started going downhill”.</p><p>            Preston sighed before continuing. “From the stories I heard from the old-timers, I always wondered if losing the CPG and the Castle were the beginning of the end. The final nails in the coffin were losing General Becker and then the shit that happened at Quincy a little over a month ago. And now, the Minutemen are barely a dream”.</p><p>            “I wouldn’t say so,” Nora said encouragingly. “There’s still one Minuteman left carrying on the dream. I really admire you, Preston. You’re doing your absolute damnedest, despite it all”.</p><p>            “I don’t really feel like it always makes a difference,” Preston said softly.</p><p>            “To these people?” Nora scoffed, pointing outside at Sanctuary, “it probably means all the difference”.</p><p>            Nick Valentine smiled and nodded, while Preston blushed a little out of embarrassment and muttered a slight “thank you”.</p><p>            “I couldn’t have said it any better myself, Mum!” Codsworth cheered. “Three cheers for Mr. Garvey!”</p><p>            After the impromptu toast, Preston looked at Nora earnestly.</p><p>            “I have to ask you something serious. Do you really believe those things you said?”</p><p>            “Of course,” Nora laughed. “You’re a fantastic leader”.</p><p>            “A leader…sure. I mean, I can protect a perimeter and get my men through a fight against all odds, but…I’m not the man for the job to get the whole Commonwealth back on its feet”.</p><p>            “I’m sure you will be, Preston”.</p><p>            “No, I can’t agree with you there, but I know someone who could be”.</p><p>            Nick Valentine had already put two-and-two together, and had honestly been thinking the same thing. A pair of robotic eyes flashed towards Nora Mulyer as Nora looked obliviously at Preston.</p><p>            “Really? Who would that be?”</p><p>            “A certain someone who got a group of settlers out of a huge jam in Concord,” Preston grinned. “I hear she’s currently on the hunt for her missing son”.</p><p>            “Preston!” Nora yelped. “The fact that I’m looking for my son is precisely the reason I can’t be the leader of the Minutemen!”</p><p>            “Why not? You’re already able to deal with stressful situations with a cool head. You’re also kind and tenacious”.</p><p>            “And you’re not bloodthirsty or in it for yourself,” Nick nodded in agreement. “Kid, I’ve seen you talk down people who should have shot you right in the face, and I’ve seen you help people with no reason to do so and no expectation to get anything in return. I’d say you’re General material”.</p><p>            “I’m in agreement, Mum! If anyone can bring the Commonwealth together, you’re the woman for the job. In my two-hundred and ten years in this Commonwealth, I’ve seen the horrors of the wasteland tear people apart! But you, Mum, you have remained the very model of what humanity should aspire to be!” She hadn’t even taken the job yet, but Codsworth was already clapping his appendages together in a crude applause.</p><p>            “Think about it,” Preston added. “The more allied settlements you have behind you, the more people who can keep an eye out for your baby. A Commonwealth where we all help each other is better for your son than a Commonwealth where everyone is in it for themselves. I know you’re still looking for your son, so I can handle the executive work and the organization, but if you could spread the word of the Commonwealth Minutemen as you search, it would be a tremendous help. You’re a figure people can really rally behind”.</p><p>            “Preston…” Nora said softly, before realizing two things. Firstly, Preston was right. Secondly, no one else was going to let this go. She felt herself cave to the pressure and nodded at Preston.</p><p>            “Alright. I’m in. What should I do first, Preston?”</p><p>            “Well General,” Preston began, causing Nora’s face to redden a bit. “You’re headed to Diamond City and taking Dogmeat with you, right? I’m going to go with you too for part of the way, until we hit Lexington. East of here, there’s another settlement called Tenpines Bluff. I already sent a runner there to see what it would take to convince them to fly the Minutemen flag. Apparently, they’ve been getting terrorized by the Lexington raiders”.</p><p>            “So that’s where we’re stopping on the way back to Diamond City,” Nora surmised. “We’re basically raiding the raiders…”</p><p>#</p><p>            “Now Codsworth,” Sturges said, after running a maintenance check on the old butler, “I’ve run a full systems check on you and gotten some of those rusty appendages all clean and ready to go. Watch your nuclear core, though. It looks like it needs some servicing but I don’t have any way of replacing certain parts right now”.</p><p>            “We’ll see if we can pick them up before we bring him back to Sanctuary again,” Nora told Sturges. “You just tell me what I need to look for”. Codsworth and Dogmeat had been outfitted with storage packs around their chassis and back respectively, to increase their ability to carry useful items. Preston, Nick, and Nora all carried backpacks.</p><p>            “I’ll give you a laundry list,” Sturges said, grabbing a pen and paper from his workshop. “Just mind that robot. Mind the dog too, while you’re at it. Mama Murphy’s super attached to him”.</p><p>            “We’ll take the utmost caution, Mr. Sturges,” Codsworth said pridefully as Nora called Dogmeat over.</p><p>#</p><p>            The Minutemen’s presence in the northwest of the Commonwealth, combined with the events of the past week or so, had seen to it that only Cambridge and Lexington were difficult spots to travel on the route from Sanctuary to Diamond City. Cambridge was infested with ghouls that mostly kept to the thickest parts of the city, meaning one could usually avoid trouble by taking a side street or travelling in the daytime, when the ghouls were usually less active. No such strategy was currently viable in Lexington. The large raider population ensured that the threat never truly slept.</p><p>            It was worrisome to think of how they would handle the raiders at the Corvega Assembly plant, even though there were now five of them. Nick Valentine and Preston were experienced enough to hold their own in a firefight. Dogmeat and Codsworth could at least somewhat handle themselves. Considering that it was difficult to sweet-talk or outwit raiders, Nora found herself to be the weakest link here.</p><p>            “I signed you up for the General’s hat for a reason, General,” Preston confided in her, as the group walked into the parking lot of the Super-Duper mart. There was a fire escape ladder that was already lowered to the ground there, meaning the group could scale the building and use it as a vantage point for the lower parts of Lexington. “I know you don’t have a lot of practice shooting, but you’re probably the best strategist in the group. If anyone can plan and execute an attack, it’s you”.</p><p>            Nora tried her best to take Preston’s confidence in her to heart as she looked out at the ruined city blocks of what was once Lexington. There were several blocks of what were once residential buildings and small businesses. A highway overpass divided that section of town from the Corvega plant.</p><p>            “I’ve come through here before,” Nick mentioned. “Best to avoid going the direct route going within sight of the overpass”.</p><p>            “Yeah, looks like a trap,” Nora said. Most of the overpass was walled off, either by debris or by boards that had been set up later. It was obvious that at least a few raiders were using that overhang as a patrol route to protect the plant.</p><p>            “Our main objective is the raiders inside the plant,” Preston elaborated. “It’d be better if we could wipe out every last one so they can’t reform their gang, but we’re a small group. We’ll miss at least a couple. If we at least get the ones inside the plant, it’s going to mess with their leadership and their ability to conduct raids. That’ll give Tenpines Bluff a chance to breathe, and for the Minutemen to extend fortifications in that area while the raiders are down”.</p><p>            “And once the raiders get back up, Tenpines won’t be worth the trouble anymore,” Nora realized. “You sure you shouldn’t be the General, Preston?”</p><p>            “I’m sure,” Preston laughed. “Though I admit right now you’re probably the trainee General. Lemme quiz you on one other thing then, just to see how smart you really are. What’s the other thing that’s valuable inside the plant that we won’t find outside? I’ll give you a hint. It’s something solid”. He pointed to his backpack as he spoke.</p><p>            Nora thought for a moment before figuring it out. It <em>was</em> an industrial plant, after all.</p><p>            “Salvage and parts,” Nora realized. “You’re building fortifications. All that extra manufacturing material can be used to build defenses”.</p><p>            “And shacks,” Nick added, “…and turrets, if we get the circuitry and wiring. The Minutemen could use every little bit of steel and rubber and oil they can get, and its not like the raiders are putting it to good use…”</p><p>#</p><p>            “I feel a little like Robin Hood,” Nora said.</p><p>            “Instead of rich to poor, it’s stealing from ruffians to give back to upstanding citizens,” Codsworth mused. “Well, I suppose we need to rebuild society before we can just go back to throwing miscreants in jail”.</p><p>            Nora looked out at the overpass again. It extended along the front of Lexington before straightening out at an east-west direction. That meant the back of the plant was completely undefended. She remembered from her trips in and out of Cambridge in that direction that there was a large empty field behind the Corvega plant with almost nothing there.</p><p>            “We should head down,” Nora said. “Go around the side-road until we get to the field behind Lexington. Since we’re such a small group, we can sneak into a back entrance and wreak havoc in the building without dealing with the peons in front”.</p><p>            “Now you’re thinking with the General’s hat on,” Preston grinned.</p><p>#</p><p>            The side-road was clear. Before long, the group had reached the back of the Corvega plant and located an emergency exit towards the back of the plant that was locked. A couple of bobby pins were all that were needed to breach the door, though Nick cautioned Nora about the status of the door as an emergency exit.</p><p>            “Let’s be really careful when we open it,” Nick mentioned. “We don’t know if the fire alarms work after two-hundred years. The whole plant could know we’re here the moment we get the door”.</p><p>            “I bought some grenades from Trashcan Carla,” Preston added, passing a couple to Nick and Nora. “There’s only a couple to go around, so be careful with them, but they could come in really, really handy”.</p><p>            No alarm could be heard going off as the group slipped into the ruined Corvega plant. Some of the catwalks above the ground level were clearly degraded and falling apart, but construction lights marked the path that raiders were clearly using to navigate the industrial labyrinth.</p><p>            No sooner than when the group turned the corner, however, did a spotlight suddenly focus on them. Dogmeat began to growl and bark and shadowy figures up ahead. Rifle already in hand, Nora could see a man up ahead aim a shotgun. She barely managed to shove Preston to the side as shotgun shrapnel flew through the air.</p><p>            “They know we’re here!” Nick yelled. The ensuing exchange of laser shots, flames, buckshot, and pistol bullets was intense. For every raider the group took down, it seemed like two more took their place.</p><p>            “They’re gonna lock us into this corridor!” Preston yelled.</p><p>            “Nick! The door! Make sure no one else can come in behind us!” Nora yelled. Without hesitation, Nick backed away from the firefight and began throwing down heavy pieces of salvage and storage tanks to block the door.</p><p>            “It’s done! They’re not getting through!” Nick said.</p><p>            “Good! Fall back!” Preston yelled, before unpinning a grenade and throwing it into the corridor in front of them. A moment later, an explosion rocked the corridor, causing a section of roof ahead of them to cave in a bit. A woman’s voice could be heard going “aauuugh!” before the room went silent.</p><p>            Now there was only the smell of blood and asbestos. Nora detected a faint odor of gasoline --- some of the gas tanks stored in the closets were leaking. She tried to ignore the section of bloody entrails and a detached arm that had been flung down the corridor by the explosion.</p><p>            “We need to be careful about those,” Nora said, holding back vomit as she pointed to the flames.</p><p>            “Yeah, no one likes roasted synth or char-broiled Minutemen,” Nick said morbidly.</p><p>            Preston was acutely aware of Nora’s repulsion to the blood and gore of the explosion. Picking up a couple of gas cans and tucking them into Codsworth’s storage pack, Preston pointed to the stairwell at the end of the corridor. He tucked a few rolls of duct tape and some oil cans into his pockets before pointing to the stairs.</p><p>“Let’s head upstairs,” he said. “Assembly line probably isn’t far off”.</p><p>#</p><p>            There were two more flights of stairs to climb through before the top of the building. Each time they rounded a corner in the stairwell, there were more raiders waiting for them, and each time the group gunned them down with considerably effort. At the second flight of stairs, before they reached the assembly room, a surprise group of raiders attempted to sneak up on the group from behind, only to be mauled by Dogmeat and shocked by a very wary Nick Valentine.</p><p>            “These guys have Stimpaks on them,” Nick mused. “Those of you of the flesh and blood persuasion might be interested in these”.</p><p>            “You can never have enough medicine,” Preston sighed. He picked up a shotgun from one of the dead bodies and wiped off the brunt of the blood. “Can never have enough defenses either”.</p><p>            When they were done looting the remaining corpses and picking off high-value or high-necessity, they made their way to the main Assembly room. It was Nora who stopped the rest of the group. The room positively wreaked of gas. Scattered, rusted wrecks of unfinished cars could be seen still perched on the assembly equipment. Nora looked back at the others.</p><p>            “One well-placed grenade would do wonders here,” Nick marveled. “How do the raiders stay conscious with all the gas fumes?”</p><p>            “One well-placed grenade could also set the whole building on fire,” Preston said, before realizing, “though maybe that’s not the worst thing in the world”.</p><p>            “We’d still have to escape though!” Codsworth worried.</p><p>            Nora pointed to the fire escape. “We can do that, but we’ll have to use this floor’s emergency exit. If the fire gets too crazy or the explosions are too great, the lower stories will cave in”.</p><p>            <em>Is there another way?</em> Nora asked herself, moving slightly ahead of the group and peeking out at the stronghold on the Assembly room. The room was crawling with raiders and full to the brim with turrets and spotlights. Without a distraction, there was no sneaking in and picking everyone else off. She peeked back at the rest of the group and signaled them to open the emergency exit as she pulled out a grenade.</p><p>            This emergency exit’s alarm still worked. The moment Nick and Preston broke the door open for ventilation, overhead sirens began to blare and all the spotlights in the room focused on that one particular room. The ensuing panic was attracting every raider within earshot of the alarm system to the assembly line. Nora could already see several raiders begin to rush in their direction.</p><p>            “General!” Preston yelled out of fear.</p><p>            “Fuck!” Nora cursed loudly as she pulled out her second grenade and pulled the pins on both. Throwing them both as hard as she could, she saw one soar over everyone’s heads and land on a car behind the frontmost raiders. The other grenade didn’t quite make it as far, narrowly missing a raider’s head as it fell closer to the raiders and the Minutemen. Nora scrambled to her feet as the grenade rolled into an oil puddle near here.</p><p>            “OPEN THAT DOOR MORE!” She screamed. Codsworth shoved the door open as far he could before the two grenades both exploded and engulfed the assembly room in flames. A wall of fire formed where the assembly conveyor belts were, trapping the raiders on the upper workstations in a pocket of flame. Their screams were drowned out by the ringing in Nora’s ears. She’d barely missed any of the shrapnel from the closer grenade, which had blown a hole in a weaker spot on the floor, causing two of the raiders in front of her to fall through the floor. One additional raider had their leg injured by the blast. Nora herself felt the floor begin to give way underneath her.</p><p>            There was a sudden feeling of teeth on her Vault Suit as Nora felt Dogmeat rush forward and bite her neck, slowing her fall. Preston Garvey rushed forward and helped Dogmeat pull her up before pushing her through the emergency exit. They were on a different part of the building, around one of the sides, away from most of the catwalks and scaffolding that encompassed the more defended parts of the front of the plant.</p><p>            “We gotta climb down and get out of here,” Preston said. “We’ve done enough damage where they won’t be bothering Tenpines for a while”.</p><p>            <em>Right. Time to go,</em> Nora told herself. The group shuffled down the emergency stairs, aiming to get to the field they’d cut through to access the back of the plant. A few narrow misses with bullets flying through the air made it clear that some of the raiders posted to watchtowers were aiming right at the escaping Minutemen.</p><p>            “Fuck, they’re gonna follow us!” Preston yelled.</p><p>            “The field!” Nora cried. “Hurry down the stairs, we’ve got better odds out in the open!”</p><p>            “There are still snipers on the roof, Nora!” Nick yelled.</p><p>            “And they can snipe us all a lot easier when we’re sandwiched on the emergency stairs! Go! Go!”</p><p>            Once they’d made it to the parking lot, Preston stopped the group and hid them behind a parked semi-truck. He began furiously cranking his laser musket.</p><p>            “Watch my back, I’ll take out the sharpshooters!” The crack of red laser beam echoed from Preston’s gun with a few precise shots, killing two sentries and dissuading a few others.</p><p>            “I think we can go back around the main road an—”</p><p>            There was an ominous, inhuman yell from the ruins of Lexington, before the group could see the remaining raiders become pre-occupied with something happening in the depths of the city,</p><p>            “What was that?!” Preston said, alarmed. Nora was vaguely reminded of her encounter with Swan at the Park Street Station.</p><p>            “We need to go!” Nick yelled, “that’s a Behemoth’s yell!”</p><p>            “They’re this close to Sanctuary?” Preston panicked.</p><p>            “Guys!” Nora yelled, bolting for the side road going around Lexington, leading back to Concord (or out to Cambridge, depending on the direction). “Let them kill each other! We’ve done what we came to do!”</p><p>            There was a rush and a panic as Nora instinctively led the group back in the direction of the houses on the outskirts of Lexington, where the first set of ghouls she’d encountered had attacked her. She barely noticed the untouched pile of ghoul bodies that included the Rosa corpses as she ushered everyone into the most intact looking house and shut the door.</p><p>            Through a combination of their own work and the attacking Behemoth, Lexington was quickly becoming a lost cause for the raiders. There was a whistle in the air, followed by a large explosion, before the Behemoth finally collapsed to one knee, swinging a large tree as a makeshift club.</p><p>            “Woah,” Nora marvelled. The raiders at the front of the plant had been no joke.</p><p>            “Fat-Man,” Nick said sternly. “Good thinking having us go around”.</p><p>            “What if that makes it to Sanctuary?” Nora said worriedly.</p><p>            “Mini-nuke shells aren’t super easy to come by. I’d rather see them use up their stock on the Behemoth than the Minutemen, General”.</p><p>            “Still, the surviving raiders are not going to have a whole lot of places to go,” Nick said worriedly. “Once they lick their wounds, they’re only going to head a few different directions”.</p><p>            “Do you think Tenpines will be in danger?”</p><p>            “It’s too small for them to bother now,” Preston sighed. “That puts Sanctuary at risk though. T</p><p>hey’ll probably hole up looking for a new base though, so that’ll probably push them into Cambridge to deal with the ghouls”.</p><p>            Preston pointed to the Corvega plant, where a fire could be seen rising from the top floor. “Anyway, the General was right. We’ve set things in motion. Let their house of cards fall while we build ours up”.</p><p>            They took a moment to sort through their scrap. Preston took the most high-value items back to Sanctuary for Sturges to work on. “This is the most I can carry while I can still hold my own in a fight,” Preston sighed, “but if we leave some of the other good stuff here, I can try and come back for it. I know you four need to get back to Diamond City”.</p><p>            “You know, we can also trade the rest of it for caravan shipments at Diamond City,” Nick mused.</p><p>            “That’s a great idea!” Nora chuckled. “We can save a lot of work that way and not leave anything for scavengers”.</p><p>            “And I can rest easy knowing we’ve put some raiders out of commission for a while,” Preston said, relaxing a bit. “General, I’m going to head back and see what I can do about building up our numbers. Good luck in Diamond City”.</p><p>#</p><p>            The rest of the trip to Diamond City was smooth.</p><p>            “No ghouls, no raiders,” Nora marveled as they made their way back through Cambridge, “wow, this is re-assuring”.</p><p>            “We’ll be in Diamond City within a couple hours now,” Nick mused. “Hopefully soon we’ll see you and your son back together too, at this rate”. He turned his head back for a moment, looking out at the thin smoke column still rising from Lexington. “I gotta hand it to you, kid. You can sure ruin a raider’s day”.</p><p>            They had almost forgotten about the Brotherhood outpost in Cambridge. Too late, only as the Brotherhood flags and the figure of a man in power armor on patrol at the police station came into view, did they realize that they might have had an enemy to contend with after all. Nick raised the collar of his trenchcoat carefully.</p><p>            <em>Speaking of raiders,</em> he thought to himself. Nora had yet to notice.</p><p>            “Mulyer?”</p><p>            Danse’s gruff voice caught both Nora and Codsworth’s attention. He’d recognized the Vault Suit and Mr. Handy a mile away.</p><p>            “Oh! Paladin!” Nora almost smiled for a moment before suddenly realizing who was travelling with her.</p><p>            <em>Shit</em>. He hadn’t noticed yet. While Nick did his best to quietly walk past Nora unannounced, Nora decided to change the subject.</p><p>            “Have you heard of a man named Kellogg, Paladin?”</p><p>            Danse seemed alarmed. “Kellogg? I’ve never had the pleasure. I heard from intelligence that he’s a dangerous mercenary, though. What could you possibly want from him?”</p><p>            “Well, I think he’s the one who took S—"</p><p>            “Mrs. Mulyer,” Danse interrupted. He’d just noticed Nick. “You realize there’s a synth in your travelling party?”</p><p>            Nora had no chance to respond, as Nick Valentine spoke first.</p><p>            “I can’t believe your friend Nora Mulyer hired a detective to find her missing son. Oh wait, that tends to be a natural course of action when you’re in her shoes. Unlike you, she cares enough about her son to not care if I’m a synth. Considering I’m on her payroll, yeah, I’m pretty sure she knows I’m here”.</p><p>            Danse glared at Nora condescendingly. “I can’t believe you’re seeking assistance from this… thing. It could be secretly working for the Institute!”</p><p>            “If there’s one group I don’t work for, it’s those crazy scientists,” Nick groaned. “Do I sound like an Institute people-snatcher to you?”</p><p>            “Danse!” Nora fumed. “This is Nick Valentine. He’s a detective up in Diamond City”.</p><p>            “<em>That’s</em> Nick Valentine?” The Brotherhood Paladin was incredulous. “When I heard the broadcast on Diamond City Radio, I figured you’d seek him out. I can’t believe I actually hoped you found him. Here he is… a smart-talking abomination!” Danse almost laughed malevolently.</p><p>            “Disappointing,” he added.</p><p>            “She found me, bucko,” Nick said sardonically as Nora tried to stifle a laugh at Nick’s use of the antiquated word “bucko”.</p><p>            “Now, we’re busy on the hunt for Shaun Mulyer’s kidnapper, so unless you want to contribute some valuable information on what you know about Kellogg, I think you have a subordinate somewhere you should be bothering”.</p><p>            “You can’t be serious,” Danse groaned, only to noticed that Nora was becoming increasingly standoffish as well.</p><p>            “Whatever,” he finally sighed. “This business isn’t my problem anyway. I don’t have any information about Kellogg I can offer you that I haven’t already told you”.</p><p>“You told us he was a dangerous mercenary. Any idiot could figure that out,” Nick retorted. “Try something better!”</p><p>            Codsworth tried to come between the two with words of diplomacy, to no avail. Hiding from Danse behind Nora’s legs, Dogmeat whimpered a little.</p><p>            Danse scowled. “Hand to God, I’ve told you everything I know. I’ve nothing to gain by lying to you. Now, while I appreciate the assistance you’ve given the Brotherhood so far, I refuse to do business with you while you travel with abominations. The only reason I’m not shooting that thing is because it’s supposedly helping you find your son”.</p><p>            He bent down to pick up something he’d been stashing behind one of the metal barricades, throwing a piece of combat armor down at Nora’s feet. It was unmarked with the Brotherhood insignia.</p><p>            “That’s yours for the food and medicine earlier. You can seek shelter at Cambridge Police Station when you regain hold of your senses and show better sense in companions. Vacate this compound’s grounds immediately, <em>Civilian</em>”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Sunset Sarsaparilla</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 12: In which Nora, Piper, and Nick have a lighthearted comic-relief adventure in the Dugout Inn before seeking out Kellogg.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>SUNSET SARSAPARILLA</h1><p>
  <em>“And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp/And surely I’ll be mine/And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet/for auld lang syne” – Robert Burns“Auld Lang Syne”</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>            Piper Wright’s grin was bright enough to light all of Diamond City for a week.</p><p>            “Hoohh…man!” She laughed, taking notes about the group’s misadventure to Lexington without her. “I can see the headlines now, “Minutemen Masterpiece!” People are gonna eat Minutemen triumph stories up! Oh, and I can definitely get some enthusiasm built up for <em>General Mulyer </em>of the Commonwealth Minutemen”.</p><p>            She’d already given Nora a free copy of her latest editorial: <em>View from the Vault</em>. The issue had apparently been selling like hotcakes during Nora and Nick departed from the city to fetch Dogmeat.</p><p>            “We’ve been up to a fair bit over the past couple days,” Nick remarked. “It’s safe to say Kellogg’s our man, Piper. I wouldn’t make an article about this, but you ought to throw a ‘have-you-seen-me” about Kellogg and the boy into the paper, just in case we wind up needing it. Direct all inquiries to my office”.</p><p>            “I can do that,” Piper said. “It’ll be in the classifieds when I put the next issue out. You let me know if you need that timeline extended”. Nick and Codsworth nodded in agreement while Nora took a moment to pet Dogmeat.</p><p>            “If you’re gonna laud Nora, you might as well throw in some talk about the Drumlin Diner incident. It takes a lot of guts to talk down two hostile wastelanders like that, and leave the scene with everyone uninjured and, dare I say, at least somewhat happy with the outcome”.</p><p>            “You mentioned something about being a lawyer during our interview, Nora? I didn’t really make a huge deal out of it at the time, since some of my readers can’t even spell ‘lawyer’.  Still, I gotta hand it to you, you really know the way to a speedy resolution. We haven’t forgotten Skinny Malone”.</p><p>            While they were chuckling about their various exploits, there was a knock on the door. An officer from Diamond City Security was looking for Nora.</p><p>            “Hey, Vault Girl. You should know those Bobrov Brothers are looking for you”.</p><p>            “I wonder what that could be about,” Piper laughed. “We might as well find out before you head out”.</p><p>            “We really should get going to Kellogg’s house when we’re done here though,” Nick said.</p><p>            Nora shrugged before finally deciding, “I suppose there’s no harm in it as long as they make it quick”.</p><p>#</p><p>            “Quiet, Yefim!” Vadim Bobrov’s attention was fixed on Piper, Nick, and Nora as soon as they reached the bar. Codsworth and Dogmeat had remained in Piper’s home with Nat. He pointed at Nora Mulyer and, reeking of moonshine, began to pitch his idea.</p><p>            “You! Tell me, Diamond City Radio. It’s terrible, yes? Makes you want to cut your own ears off?”</p><p>            “I mean,” Nora sighed, “he’s not the most confident DJ I’ve ever heard”.</p><p>            “Piper, you’ve pointed out Travis to me before. He’s just an unconfident teenager”.</p><p>            “I mean, you got the unconfident part right,” Nick chuckled. Vadim continued.</p><p>            “This is what I tell Yefim! Something must be done. That radio is bad for business --- makes customers unhappy. Serious problem calls for serious solution!”</p><p>            Vadim chuckled, before adding (much to everyone else’s horror), “now, we just need someone to get rid of him! You just convince him to follow you out of town…”</p><p>            “That’s a terrible idea!” A dumbstruck Nora shook her head at Vadim, before adding, “are you joking?”</p><p>            Yefim caught unto the reactions first.</p><p>            “No, no. It’s a misunderstanding,” he said defensively. “Vadim doesn’t really want to kill Travis. We just think he has no confidence”.</p><p>            The Bobrov Brothers (mostly Vadim) went on to explain to Nora that they’d set up a fake bar fight to try and boost Travis’s confidence. Of course, someone needed to back Travis up against the would-be goons that would be fighting with him in the bar. Vadim had decided that Nora would be a good fit for this role. Interestingly enough, he’d come to this conclusion on the assumption that Nora had been in a few bar fights, which led to Nick Valentine and Piper Wright both giggling at Nora’s dumbfounded response of “no”.</p><p>            “I was absolutely sure you had been in a bar fight before. You just seem so confident!”     “Even though you haven’t, you’ve proven you can hold your own”. Nick chuckled.</p><p>            “Look, that’s all we need,” Vadim grinned. “I don’t need you to have been in a bar fight before, I just need you to be able to manage in one for a good cause! I want to stage a fight here in Dugout. Nothing too crazy. We just make sure that Travis wins and feels good about himself after. He should be here in just a short amount of time!”</p><p>#</p><p>            There was a thirty-minute interval between hearing out Vadim’s pitch and actually waiting for Travis to show up. Vadim had already hired the two goons responsible to take a fall in the staged bar fight: two rough looking characters off in the corner, drinking moonshine and telling each other some bawdy story.</p><p>            Nick, Piper, and Nora were sitting at another table with a prime view of the entrance. The Dugout Inn waitress, Scarlett, brought over their order of two Sunset Sarsaparillas and a can of oil. Piper had recommended the now-rare beverage as “her favorite”. This was perhaps one of the first moments where Nora felt a sense of normalcy in her life since the bombs had dropped. The focus at the table became polite conversation and laughs about past misadventures. Nora finally placed Nick’s accent.</p><p>            “Chicago,” Nora said triumphantly.</p><p>            “Chick-a who?” Piper asked.</p><p>            “What about it?” Nick asked curiously, recognizing the name.</p><p>            “Your accent. It was bothering me for a while before I finally placed it. How’d the Institute get a Chicago accent into one of their synths?”</p><p>            “Well, kid…” Nick began, “Nick Valentine wasn’t always a metal and plastic synth. He was flesh and blood, once upon a time”.</p><p>            “I have no idea what you guys are talking about,” Piper said.</p><p>            “Chicago was a big city before the war,” Nora elaborated. “Far away from Boston, Piper. <em>Really</em> far. Nick’s voice --- he sounds like someone from Chicago”.</p><p>            “How far away are we talking, Blue? You ever been, before the War?”</p><p>            “Probably a thousand miles away, no joke,” Nora said before adding, “I went with Nate once before we got married, to meet some of his family from there. That was back when you could travel that far in just a day or so”.</p><p>            They both turned to Nick.</p><p>            “You’re from there?” They asked in unison.</p><p>            “I don’t like to talk about it, but I guess we could go over the quick version,” Nick sighed, pouring out some oil on creaky joints. “As a synth, I’ve only ever known the Institute and the Commonwealth, but I guess my personality isn’t an Institute original project. The eggheads managed to dig up some brain scan of some long-dead detective before the War. I get flashes of his life from time to time in my memories --- and yeah, Chicago rings a bell”.</p><p>            “He must have been from there, judging from how thick that accent is,” Nora mused. “I wonder how that brain scan made it to Boston”.</p><p>            “A great mystery for another day,” Nick said, dodging the subject. He pointed at the entrance of the Dugout Inn. Travis Miles had just arrived.</p><p>#</p><p>            Nora and her friends weren’t the only ones to notice Travis. A moment after he walked to the bar and ordered a “Dirty Wastelander”, Vadim’s hired thugs made their way over to Travis and began antagonizing him. They seemed a bit drunker than necessary for this job. Nora inched forward carefully as Nick and Piper stayed behind to watch.</p><p>            “Look,” Nora could hear Travis stammer meekly as she came forward. “I d-don’t want any trouble…”</p><p>            “What’s the matter?” The lead bruiser sneered. Typical wasteland lunk: greaser jacket, pompadour haircut, bad attitude. “Not so tough when you’re not on your radio?”</p><p>            “I don’t— I don’t want any trouble”.</p><p>            Nora decided Travis needed a little push in the right direction. Sneaking in on his other side, she ordered a shot of whiskey for herself and tapped Travis on his shoulder as he spoke. He turned around fearfully as the goons waited on what happened next.</p><p>            “Hey there, pal”. She wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to say. She wasn’t exactly Travis’s “pal”.</p><p>            “Oh, uh…it’s you,” he said nervously. “Can I help you?”</p><p>            “You know, you could resolve this situation if you try”. Truth be told, this wasn’t Nora’s forte. She was used to stopping fights rather than egging them on. Still, if this <em>was</em> staged…</p><p>            “That doesn’t…seem l-like a good idea. With these men, well…it could turn violent!”</p><p>            “Travis,” Nora thought hard for a moment before finding her next words, “nothing will change unless you make it change”.</p><p>            Her whiskey shot arrived. She downed the glass whole, needing a bit of liquid courage herself. Nick and Piper watched with anticipation.</p><p>            “It’s not that bad,” Travis continued, still meek. His Dirty Wastelander also arrived, though he hadn’t yet touched it.</p><p>            “I could just…deal with it?”</p><p>            “Yeah, he’s right,” the main goon said, inching closer and looking at Nora. “He could just… ‘deal with it’, right Gouger?”</p><p>            The sidekick, dressed in some kind of farming outfit and sporting a buzzcut, laughed a little before suddenly knocking the Dirty Wastelander off the countertop.</p><p>            “Yeah. He’s right, Bull. He’ll just ‘deal with it’, Travis. Like that”.</p><p>            Nora’s eyes narrowed. As Travis began to shrink back, she pulled him around to face her.</p><p>            “Don’t you want this to stop?”</p><p>            “Yes, but—”</p><p>            “Don’t be such a coward, Travis. Besides, I’ve got your back”.</p><p>            Something she said resonated with him. He seemed to grow a bit bolder, standing up straighter before nodding.</p><p>            “I’m—I’m not a coward!”</p><p>            He turned around and looked at the two men. “Leave me alone, I—I mean it!”</p><p>            “Big mistake, Travis,” Bull said. “I’m gonna destroy you and your little friend here”.</p><p>            What followed next was a punch right to Travis’s face, as Nora jumped up and pushed him back unto his feet.</p><p>            “Wha—wha’ do I –”</p><p>            “Don’t talk, just punch!” Nora said, ducking under another uppercut from Bull before shoving Gouger down to the ground. It had only been a week or so since she’d been trapped in the wasteland, but her rise in strength was starting to show. Bull managed to land one more punch right on Travis’s jaw before suddenly finding his next left hook blocked by the boy in the letterman’s jacket.</p><p>            Vadim was right: Travis had become confident. With adrenaline coursing through his veins, he started punching back at Bull with surprising ferocity. Nora did her best to quickly kick down Gouger, who was still trying to get up and rejoin the fight with Bull and Travis.</p><p>            <em>They certainly are convincing for people who are supposed to be throwing the fight</em>.</p><p>            With Gouger done, Nora stuck her foot out and tripped Bull, throwing him off balance and putting the fight squarely in Travis’s favor. Once Travis was done asserting himself, Bull and Gouger both rose up and backed away slowly.</p><p>            “God, my jaw…” Bull said, before leaving. “This sucks, man. Not what I signed up for!”</p><p>            <em>I really hope that was all just part of the act,</em> Nora thought to herself, as Travis found her and profusely thanked her for the assistance. She could see Nick and Piper clapping slightly in the background.</p><p>            “Good show, kid,” Nick laughed.</p><p>            “We’ll be remembering that one for a while. So will Travis”.</p><p>            When Travis had gotten situated and ordered another Dirty Wastelander, Vadim came over to the group and grinned.</p><p>            “That was perfect! Now, ready for next part of fool-proof plan?”</p><p>            “Ugh…” Nora sighed, thinking of Dogmeat still sitting at Piper’s house. “Vadim, we have things to do…”</p><p>            “No, no. This part is simple. You have seen Scarlett, yes?” Vadim took a moment to stealthily point at the waitress as she stepped outside the bar for a lunch break.</p><p>            He continued, “now, I am just simple bartender, but I see things. I see how Travis looks at her. And I see that sometimes she looks at him. Now, if someone who was not her employer suggests that she go spend some time with him, it might do him some good”.</p><p>            Match-making was much more in Nora Mulyer’s ballpark. She quickly thrust a few Caps in Vadim’s hands for the whiskey before saying, “play Cupid. Got it. Not hard to do”.</p><p>            <em>Good excuse to get me out of this bar and back outside to what we should be doing</em>.</p><p>#</p><p>            A bit behind Valentine’s Detective Agency, there was a makeshift park near the Outfield. Some of the poor slept under a semi-covered canopy there, in exchange for working the communal garden that helped supply foodstuffs to Diamond City. Several cans of paint were sitting out by the green wall that Fenway Park had once been famous for --- in the daytime, an old man worked diligently to keep the paint fresh. In the park proper were several park benches which had clearly been dragged into the city over the years. Scarlett sat at one of them, enjoying the starlight and eating a couple of boiled tatos.</p><p>            “I’m on a break right now,” she said cautiously at Nora. Apparently, patrons of the Dugout never let her have a moment alone. Nora almost felt bad for her.</p><p>            “Actually,” Nora said, trying to make this quick, “I just wanted to ask you about Travis”.</p><p>            “Travis?” Scarlett could be seen reddening in the face a little bit. “Er, what about him?”</p><p>            “Look,” Nora went right to brass tacks, “Travis is a nice guy. He likes you, and I can tell that you like him. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to talk to him about it?”</p><p>            “I mean,” Scarlett hesitated, “I’ve definitely noticed him. No! I can’t just go over there…”</p><p>            “Why not? I’m pretty sure he mentioned you somewhere”.</p><p>            “Are you sure?”</p><p>            “Look, Scarlett—Scarlett right? I’m just giving you a suggestion”.</p><p>            Nora flashed her wedding ring at Scarlett, whose attention was suddenly transfixed. “I took a chance on a guy I didn’t really think was that interesting once. Best decision of my life. You never really know until you go for it, huh?”</p><p>            “Alright,” Scarlett said, gaining a bit of confidence, “I’ll head over there right now. Thank you”.</p><p>#</p><p>            “Finally,” Nora said as Nick, Codsworth, and Dogmeat all followed her up to the walkway that led to Kellogg’s house. After a moment of running back into the house to fetch a cigar, Nora held it to Dogmeat’s nose.</p><p>            “Got the scent boy?”</p><p>            <em>I’m entrusting the safe recovery of my son to a dog. That’s it, I’m officially crazy.</em></p><p>            As Dogmeat picked up a scent and began to follow the trail, Nora simply told herself that she was already on the crazy train to begin with. She might as well follow the tracks to the station.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. You Can't Possibly Comprehend</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 13: In which Nora confronts the man who killed her husband and took her son.</p>
<p>[WARNING: Major character death}</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>YOU CAN’T POSSIBLY COMPREHEND</h1>
<p>
  <em>“I fell into a burning ring of fire/I went down, down, down/and the flames went higher/and it burns, burns, burns…” – Johnny Cash “Ring of Fire”</em>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>            The trip from Diamond City to Fort Hagen took almost two days. They’d left on the evening of November 1<sup>st</sup> and spent the whole next day travelling off the beaten path. Kellogg had taken a round-about way to his destination, but the trail he was leaving was clearly marked with bloodied bandages, discarded .44 rounds, and more San Francisco Sunlights.</p>
<p>            It was expected that the mercenary already knew someone was tracking him. From Diamond City, the group had made their way south and then taken a turn to the west following old railway tracks. This trail took them right into the den of a Yao Guai. When Nick and Nora had finished unloading half a dozen bullets into the mutated bear, Nick had taken a moment to examine Kellogg’s tracks. A dead, rotting Brahmin was just a few feet away, having clearly been mauled by the bear.</p>
<p>            “That bear just finished the job,” Nick mused, pointing at a leg-wound on the Brahmin. “That’s probably from a revolver. Now who else do we know who has a penchant for shooting a forty-four?”</p>
<p>            “He was smart enough to cripple the Brahmin to avoid the fight,” Nora said, shaking her head. This was no ordinary man.</p>
<p>            “He probably could have taken it alone,” Nick added. “This way, he just saved ammunition.</p>
<p>            From the railroad tracks, they made it to what had once been an underground roadway. Kellogg’s handiwork was reflected in the leftovers of a recent shootout there between himself and some now-dead Raiders. Eventually, the trail led to a little hidden section where Kellogg had set up a mine and a mannequin decoy. He’d stayed at that location for the night. With another night descending on them, Nick and Nora did the same.</p>
<p>            On the morning of the 3<sup>rd</sup>, they crossed a bridge out of downtown Boston and followed Kellogg’s tell-tale signs to the Fort Hagen area. The most disturbing discovery was a still semi-functional Assaultron that Kellogg had somehow managed to dismantle. All it could still manage to say was “EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION” over and over again.</p>
<p>            <em>A man who can dismantle military-grade robots is no joke</em>, Nora lamented. <em>And this man has my baby.</em></p>
<p>            When the road finally ended at Fort Hagen, an exhausted Dogmeat laid down near the sandbags barricading the front entrance. These looked to be ancient, covered in dust. Some of the canvas bags, undisturbed, were only half-degraded into dust.</p>
<p>            “He’s earned a rest,” Nick said. “What’s say you and I find a way inside?”</p>
<p>            “I’ll be right behind you, Mum,” Codsworth said. His normally robotic voice seemed to bristle with an unusual determination. “We’re close to discovering young Shaun’s whereabouts, I just know it!”</p>
<p>            They made their way down into the garage of Fort Hagen before finding an unlocked door that led them into the basement of the building. As soon as they cleared the entryway and climbed a flight of stairs, Nora felt a chill down her spine as she heard a familiar voice.</p>
<p>            “Hello?” The voice was a very specific pitch of “robotic”.</p>
<p>            “Institute synths,” Nick shook his head, “well, I’ll be damned”.</p>
<p>            “We need to find Kellogg,” Nora said. “And it looks like we’re going to have to cut through a mountain of synths to do it”. Nick’s own robotic eyes flashed to a nearby security Protectron.</p>
<p>            “Wait a moment,” he said softly, inching over the terminal and manipulating the keyboard.</p>
<p>            “What are you doing?”</p>
<p>            “Unlocking the terminal. I have a way with these things,” Nick chuckled, before a satisfying chirp emanated from the computer. The terminal was unlocked. A few keystrokes more from Nick Valentine caused the security Protectron’s charging station to release.</p>
<p>            “Powering up. Protectron on duty,” the clunky law-enforcement robot said as it slowly marched its way straight to main room where the first group of synths were on patrol. Nick gave the signal for Dogmeat, Nora, and Codsworth to all lie low. A moment later, the synths began shooting at their uninvited guest, only to be shot at by the group who’d set the robot free in the first place.</p>
<p>            It was a difficult fight. There were dozens of synths, and some of them sported actual clothing and armor. None of them were any more human than Nick, but their increased presence and preparedness confirmed that Kellogg was more than just some Institute flunkie.</p>
<p>            “He’s a genuine asset to them,” Nick sighed. “I knew from long ago that Kellogg had to have a consistent, powerful employer. Now I know exactly who that was”.</p>
<p>            “You don’t think the Institute are the ones who took Shaun? Why would they even do that?” Nora asked, almost fearfully.</p>
<p>            “Kid, it’s probably better to ask Kellogg that question when we get to him. C’mon, we need to get to the top floor. He’s certainly not down here”.</p>
<p>#</p>
<p>            The fight to the Command Center consisted of shooting, biting, or flaming their way through a few dozen synths. When they finally made it to the interior of the fort, a voice echoed back at them from the overhead speakers.</p>
<p>            “If it isn’t my old friend, the frozen TV dinner”. Kellogg taunted Nora without a hint of remorse as Codsworth, Dogmeat, and Nick all looked up in shock. Kellogg’s familiar voice and knowledge of what happened in Vault 111 made Nora’s blood boil --- she was finally about to confront the man who’d took her life away.</p>
<p>            Kellogg continued, “Last time we met, you were cozying up to the peas and apple cobbler”.</p>
<p>            In a rage, Nora practically kicked the door to the next room open, not even feeling the resulting pain of an Institute laser rifle grazing her shoulder.</p>
<p>            “KELLOGG!” She screamed.</p>
<p>            “Sorry your house has been a wreck for two-hundred years,” the mercenary crooned, “but I don’t need a roommate. Leave”.</p>
<p>            Nora was practically storming down the corridors at this point, desperately inching towards the room where her husband’s murderer lay.</p>
<p>            “Nora!” Nick yelled from behind, “hey, cool it! I know your mad, but keep calm! You’re falling for his trap!”</p>
<p>            They progressed further into the ruins of the Command Center, gunning down more synths and disabling a trap or two along the way. Even as Nora calmed down enough to allow Nick and the others to catch up to her, Kellogg continued to goad the group over the speaker system.</p>
<p>            “Look, you’re pissed off. I get it, I do. But whatever you’re hoping to accomplish here? It’s not gonna go your way. You’ve got guts and determination, and that’s admirable, but you are in over your head in ways you can’t possibly comprehend”.</p>
<p>            “Kid,” Nick stopped Nora right as they reached the final door. He held out a couple of pulse grenades.</p>
<p>            “Look, keep these for the synths but...I know you have it in you. Try to keep a level head for just a second. You have every reason to be angry but we need to find your son before we deal with this sick fuck”.</p>
<p>            As Nora took one of the grenades into her hand, she felt the adrenaline dissipate slightly. As angry as she was, and as justified as tearing Kellogg a new asshole would have been for what he’d done to Nate, it wasn’t worth losing her only lead to her son.</p>
<p>            Vengeance and justice would have to wait. Kellogg’s voice echoed from above one final time: “Alright. You made it. I’m just up ahead”.</p>
<p>            The door to Kellogg’s final hideout unlocked with a mechanical click. He spoke again: “My synths are standing down. Let’s talk”.</p>
<p>#</p>
<p>            He was just intimidating up close as he had been from the other side of the cryo-pod door. Dressed in virtually the same outfit as he had been when he’d taken Shaun, he glanced casually at Nora with an air of what seemed to be <em>indifference</em>.</p>
<p>            This was just another day for Conrad Kellogg. His general indifference was a stark contrast to the anger that Nora was barely holding back. With clenched teeth and tears in her eyes, she looked Kellogg in the eyes and condensed it all to one sentence.</p>
<p>            “I’ll make this very simple: where is my son?”</p>
<p>            “Straight to it then, huh?” Kellogg said. Apparently, this amused him.</p>
<p>            “Fine,” he sighed. “You made it all the way here and you deserve that much. Shaun’s a good kid. So maybe he’s not quite a baby anymore, but he’s doing great. Only…”</p>
<p>            Kellogg took a moment to gesture at their surroundings. The command center was populated only by Nora, her companions, Kellogg, and several synths. There were no signs anyone else had been here.</p>
<p>            “…he’s not here. He’s with the people pulling the strings, where he’s safe, loved, and comfortable. It’s the place he calls home. The Institute”.</p>
<p>            “How do I get there?” Nora demanded. Unable to control herself, she pointed the gun at him without pulling the trigger. Kellogg just smiled and nodded.</p>
<p>            “God, you’re persistent. I gotta hand it to you, it’s the way a mother should act. It’s the way I’d be acting if I were in your shoes, I’d like to think. It’s useless though”.</p>
<p>            His eyes narrowed, and his smile faded to a serious, angry expression.</p>
<p>            “…But I think we’ve talked enough. You and I both know how this has to end. Are you ready, Nora Mulyer?”</p>
<p>            Nora backed up a bit as she aimed the gun squarely at Kellogg’s chest.</p>
<p>            “Are you, Kellogg?”</p>
<p>            A more sinister voice inside her echoed unspoken words to Kellogg: <em>in a hundred years, when I finally die, I only hope I go to hell, so I can kill you all over again, you son of a bitch.</em></p>
<p>#</p>
<p>            She had always known that taking down Kellogg wouldn’t be easy. The fact that even an outsider to the Commonwealth like Danse knew how dangerous Kellogg was should have been a sign. Nick Valentine’s entire open file on Kellogg was another sign. The wake of destruction he’d laid in his path to Fort Hagen was just more evidence. He’d likely long known she was coming for him and was warning her to stay away.</p>
<p>            At the same time, he should have also known that this confrontation was inevitable. Nora could only wonder how many ruined lives Kellogg had been allowed to ignore before this last one --- this Vault Dweller, of all people --- finally came to collect on all his misdeeds. The moment Nora agreed that she was ready to end this meeting between them once and for all, she’d armed and released the pulse grenade Nick had given her. As she threw herself off to the side of the room to avoid the incoming blast, she tackled the synth closest to her and put her rifle right into its face. A metallic jaw and strange, copper teeth were locked on the muzzle of the gun. Even though it was just a robot, she felt a voice inside of her become distraught at the realization that blowing the synth’s brain circuitry out was the best thing she’d done in a long time.</p>
<p>            Nick Valentine and Codsworth rushed out of their spot in the hallway as soon as the electrical pulse from the grenade cleared, knocking out Kellogg’s other synths and reducing the amount of targets to deal with. There was only one problem: Kellogg was nowhere to be found. As Nora’s brain struggled to figure out where exactly he’d disappeared to, she saw sparks from a bullet impact pierce Codsworth’s chassis at almost point-black range, splitting his core nearly in half.</p>
<p>            “Codsworth!”</p>
<p>            “I’m alright, mum!” Codsworth’s programmed voice seemed to convey anger. “Though he’s about to not be…”</p>
<p>            “He’s got a Stealth-Boy! Watch out!” Nick yelled. Neither the synth detective nor Nora could locate Kellogg, though Codsworth’s visual sensors seemed to be able to hone in on the elusive mercenary.</p>
<p>            “Peek-a-boo!” Codsworth aggressively yelled, swinging his buzz saw but narrowly missing Kellogg.</p>
<p>            “You’re gonna have to do better than that!” Kellogg’s disembodied voice responded back. He seemed to be getting further away, though the room was sealed off from every exit except where Nora and the others had entered from.</p>
<p>            Kellogg wasn’t the type to run, however. The sudden shape of a Molotov Cocktail appeared from one corner of the room, landing straight on Nick Valentine and setting both him and Codsworth aflame. Nora fired a few shots blindly in the direction the explosive had come from. One shot landed on Kellogg’s shoulder, exposing his otherwise invisible form. Before she could react, she suddenly felt a crippling pain in her right leg and clattered to the ground, useless. Kellogg’s revolver had found its mark, shattering part of her right humerus. She cried in pain as she looked at the gaping wound and the bone fragments sticking out of her Vault Suit.</p>
<p>            This wasn’t good. Worst off, she could see his blood-stained form getting closer. With Nick and Codsworth still battling flames, this could only mean he was about to finish the job. She felt the instinct to close her eyes tightly and prepare for the bullet to the head, simultaneously cursing this moment for being the moment where Shaun was lost forever, and holding it dear to herself as the moment where she’d finally see Nate again.</p>
<p>            “Mum?!”</p>
<p>            Her eyes were still closed. She barely registered Codsworth’s yelling.</p>
<p>            <em>“Mum?!”</em></p>
<p>            The sound of what would be the fatal gunshot finally ran through the air, and yet Nora didn’t feel her face shatter into a thousand pieces. Instead, there was the sound of another bullet clanking against Codsworth’s metal shell, tearing a worrisome looking whole into his round chassis. One of his eyestalks fell to the ground, detached at the joint. The other two seemed fixed on Conrad Kellog as the <em>still flaming</em> robot rushed towards the mercenary only he could see. The gunshot wounds had done irreparable damage to Codsworth’s systems --- Nora could see part of his core casing and internal circuitry exposed and sparking between orange flicks of fire.</p>
<p>            “Codsworth!”</p>
<p>            She was too late. His core was beginning to light up as his nuclear engine went into overdrive, turning him into a floating bomb. Conrad Kellogg’s visage faded back into view as the charge on his Stealth-Boy ran out. The robot was still fighting, spewing more flames through his flamer appendage at Kellogg from one side as his buzz-saw arm lashed out at Kellogg from the right.</p>
<p>            The crack of a different pistol sent a bullet grazing through Kellogg’s leg; Nick Valentine had re-entered the fray after putting out the flames that had engulfed him a moment ago. He backed away from Codsworth, reaching into a pocket on his jacket for what was likely a Stimpak. The damage had already been done though --- Kellogg was slow enough to be unable to avoid the inevitable sound of Codsworth’s core, about to explode. Realizing the intent behind Codsworth’s final gambit, Nick Valentine purposefully threw a pulse grenade to Kellogg’s right, effectively boxing him in between the wrecked monitors of the command center, Codsworth, and a wave of electric shock. Nora felt a sick combination of fear, rage, and loss looking out at what was about to happen.</p>
<p>            One of Codsworth’s eye-stalks turned back at her, breaking from his “angry” programming to offer her reassurance.</p>
<p>            <em>“Mum, when you find young Shaun, make time for charades. He does so love that game”.</em></p>
<p>#</p>
<p>            It was dark --- darker than it had been when Nora first woke up from two-hundred and ten years of cryo-sleep in an abandoned Vault. The pain from her leg was blinding. While she was unconscious, Nick had performed rudimentary first aid. Some of the found materials from the ruined command center were usable for a tourniquet. Once he’d set her broken leg back into place, he’d made a splint and injected her with several Stimpaks.</p>
<p>            “Groggy, kid?” Nick said, trying to be comforting. “We need to get you to a doctor. I know a couple tricks, but that leg needs a professional”.</p>
<p>            “W-where’s…?”</p>
<p>            Nick was silent for a moment before shaking his head.</p>
<p>            “Nora,” Nick finally said somberly, “…he made sure we won”. Behind Nick, Nora could see the still smoldering wreck of what used to be the Mr. Handy she and Nate once trusted with their son’s life. It was more than Codsworth being one of the last tangible things in the world that Nora could tie to Nate and Shaun, but that Codsworth himself, in a twisted way, had been the only family that Nora had kept since she re-entered the world beyond the Vault. Her heartache was immeasurable. All this, and she didn’t even know where Shaun really was.</p>
<p>            Nick pointed to a terminal Kellogg had been using, in a different part of the command center.</p>
<p>            “While you were out, I took a look through Kellogg’s belongings. I downloaded a copy of Kellogg’s reports to a blank holotape I had. It confirms Shaun is definitely with the Institute. We know who took your boy, Nora. We just have to find out where they live”.</p>
<p>            “We’re never going to find that out,” Nora said dejectedly. Her head was spinning. She wasn’t sure if it was the physical trauma or the emotional. She weakly dragged herself to Codsworth and Kellogg’s broken bodies and rested her forehead to Codsworth’s remains.</p>
<p>            “I wish I never brought you into this, Codsworth. I’m so sorry”.</p>
<p>            Nick let her grieve for a moment, mentioning that he had to sort through Kellogg’s things for some chems. While he stepped away, Nora looked at Conrad Kellogg’s corpse in disgust. Dead and still, he looked almost as inhuman as one of his synths. Technological armaments were attached to his spine, his arms, and even his head. She reached curiously behind his left temple and pulled a half-ejected component from his head.</p>
<p>            <em>Is that…brain matter? </em></p>
<p>            Nick had found what he was looking for and returned to Nora. “Got something interesting? Let’s hold unto that, very carefully. We’ll need to re-assess the facts in Diamond City and figure out what our next move is”.</p>
<p>            He held up a large syringe of something that definitely <em>wasn’t</em> a Stimpak.</p>
<p>            “Kid, I’m gonna give you some chems. I’ve found some Med-X and some Overdrive in Kellogg’s supplies. I’ve never liked watching people pump shit into their veins for fun, but these are gonna be necessary if we have to haul you a ways to get you someplace with a doctor”. While Nora lay on the floor, Nick took her Pip-Boy for a moment to pull up a map.</p>
<p>            He injected Nora with a syringe of Med-X to dull the pain of her leg before helping her rise up off the floor. The Stimpak had helped heal the worst of her crippled leg, but Nora still had to lean on the crutch and Nick to be able to move.</p>
<p>            “Diamond City’s a long way away,” Nora lamented. “I don’t think I can make the trip”.</p>
<p>            “You can’t, but we won’t go to Diamond City. We need to go somewhere closer with a doctor, and the closest we’ll get is Vault 81. It’s east of here, on the way to Diamond City but only about half the distance from here. Now, I think I’ve got an idea to keep you off your feet for a bit, but we’re going to have to get out of here before I can manage it, so hang unto me and let’s head up to the roof access”.</p>
<p>#</p>
<p>            There was a strange sound overhead as Nora and Nick slowly hobbled to outside. Nick had taken a moment at the rooftop exit to unlock the outside door and disarm the turrets posted to the roof of Fort Hagen. Once the door opened, Nick had meant to coax Nora to sit up against the walls of the rooftop entryway while he went down the fire exit to search for Dogmeat and some other supplies he needed.</p>
<p>            Instead, the synth detective and the Vault Dweller were looking up at the sky in shock and awe. The unidentifiable sound --- some sort of buzzing --- had been difficult to make out when it was muffled by the walls of the entryway. Once they were firmly out on the rooftop, they could see that the thing which had been producing that noise was a giant airship. Several helicopters were disembarking from the aerial behemoth, scattering overhead in various directions to some unknown purpose as the airship made its way through the sky.</p>
<p>            “PEOPLE OF THE COMMONWEALTH, DO NOT INTERFERE”, a booming voice announced from the airship itself.</p>
<p>            “OUR INTENTIONS ARE PEACEFUL. WE ARE THE BROTHERHOOD OF STEEL”.</p>
<p>            “Danse’s superiors,” Nora whispered in awe. “Damn, I didn’t realize the Brotherhood were so…<em>that</em>”.</p>
<p>            She looked worriedly at Nick, for whom this arrival could only mean trouble. If Danse’s reception of Nick at Cambridge Police Station had been anything to go by, there was now a sizable army of Brotherhood soldiers all eager to consider Nick a threat.</p>
<p>            “Deep into that darkness peering,” Nick said ominously, “long I stood there. Wondering”.</p>
<p>            His eyes gazed back at Nora, who already knew the next word: “Fearing”.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. What Could Have Been</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 14: In which Nick and Nora re-examine past events while recovering at Vault 81.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN</h1><p>
  <em>“I still feel alive/when it is hopeless I start to notice/and I still feel alive/falling forward back into orbit” – Half Alive “Still Feel”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            Nick’s brilliant idea was to find something with wheels in the ruins around Fort Hagen and put together a makeshift wagon. He was lucky enough to find an <em>actual </em>wagon and some rope in what had once been some poor soul’s garage, carting it from the ruins back to the main building of Fort Hagen before tying several lengths of rope to the handle.</p><p>            After carrying Nora down from the roof via the fire-escape, he loaded her in the wagon and travelled east, taking the bridge that the group had taken to reach Fort Hagen from across the river on their journey to find Kellogg. Nora was petite enough to be relatively easy to pull. On more favorable terrain, Nick and Dogmeat split the carrying load while Nick pulled Nora along. Towards the end of the trip, they reached a shortcut with less wagon-friendly altitudes, as Nick opted to take a shortcut through the hills that would avoid the main roads and get the group to Vault 81 much quicker. For this period of time, they put most of the provisions on the wagon and bound the items together with careful packing and the rest of the extra rope. Hitching some of the rope to Dogmeat’s harness, Nick let Dogmeat carry the goods while he helped Nora limp through the hills. Even with an extra dose of drugs and Stimpaks, she barely managed the trip.</p><p>            Once they reached the clearing near Vault 81, they were back on stable enough ground for Nick to put Nora back in the wagon and carry the bags. Exhausted but loyal, Dogmeat pulled Nora across the pavement and unto the catwalks that comprised the Vault entrance.</p><p>            Nick took Nora’s Pip-Boy from her arm and plugged an adapter from the portable terminal into a Vault door interface. The door did not open, but a voice came unto the intercom.</p><p>            “Hold it right there. I don’t know where you got your hands on a working Pip-Boy, but you better start talking”.</p><p>            “It’s not mine,” Nick explained, “it’s belongs to my friend here in the wagon, in case you have cameras. Notice her blue jumpsuit?”</p><p>            Nora used her hands to scoot the wagon closer to the intercom before adding, “I’m the one he means. It’s mine from Vault 111”.</p><p>            “Vault 111?” The voice asked incredulously. “I haven’t heard of that one yet. And what sort of business are you looking to take care of here in 81?”</p><p>            “Her leg is broken,” Nick said. “She’s badly hurt. I know you’re not real fond of outsiders, and frankly I don’t blame you, but this was the closest place I could take her”.</p><p>            “Is that so? And you really expect me to be— oh! Overseer!”</p><p>            A woman’s voice could be heard over the intercom: “who is it Edwards?”</p><p>            “Oh,” the man said, “Ma’am, some new Commonwealth traveler. Not one of our usual traders”.</p><p>            “We’re not traders,” Nick groaned, “I told you, this woman’s injured. Look, we have money to paid you, but can’t you show some charity and help another Vault Dweller?”</p><p>            “Another Vault Dweller?” The female Overseer’s voice contained an air of concern.</p><p>            “M-Ma’am,” the security officer added, “Before you arrived, she did say she was from Vault 111, and she’s in possession of a working Pip-Boy”.</p><p>            “Is that so? And she’s wounded?”</p><p>            “Her leg’s broken!” Nick exclaimed. “I had to drag her here in a wagon”.</p><p>            There was a moment of silence before the Overseer’s voice returned to the intercom. “Edwards, I’m going to allow it. Open the door and make the announcement. She’s no threat to us in that state”.</p><p>            “What about the dog and her…friend, there?”</p><p>            “I’ll allow that as well, security is already mindful as it is. Get her to Doctor Forsythe as soon as you’re done screening her”.</p><p>#</p><p>            The next couple of days were a blur. In the safety of the Vault, Nora was admitted to the Vault infirmary for emergency surgery. The doctors of Vault 81 were particularly well-trained. What should have effectively been a fatal injury was treated with proper surgery, a course of antibiotics, and a plethora of Stimpaks and Med-X. It had been the 4<sup>th</sup> when Nora had been admitted to the Vault. She wasn’t up and moving again until the evening of the 7<sup>th</sup>.</p><p>            “Up and moving” didn’t mean walking as much as it did being coherent enough to hold a conversation. Most of the inhabitants of Vault 81 kept away from Nora, though she did have some company. Nick Valentine and Dogmeat kept close to Nora, being just as ostracized as she was in her recovery. Doctor Forsythe was another companion, chatting her up about her missing son and asking for a blood sample to run a study on genetic diversity outside of the Vault. He had also been the one to get her a Vault 81 jumpsuit to wear temporarily while her Vault 111 suit was repaired at the depot.</p><p>            Another frequent visitor was a Vault 81 child: a boy with a mop of red hair and freckles named Austin Engill. Nick Valentine had told Nora that Austin had been poking around the infirmary from the day they arrived, trying to get a close look at the woman from another Vault. Once Nora was coherent enough to hold a conversation, Austin was her first visitor from the Vault 81 residents.</p><p>            “Hey, lady, you gonna say anything?”</p><p>            “Austin,” Dr. Forsythe’s assistance, Dr. Rachel, approached to scold the boy. “Quit pestering our visitor from the Commonwealth. She’s still in recovery”.</p><p>            “It’s fine,” Nora said weakly before looking back at Austin. “Sorta. I’m from another Vault”.</p><p>            “But you were outside, in the Commonwealth, right? Why’d you leave your Vault?”</p><p>            Nora hesitated before finally whispering, “it’s a long story”.</p><p>            “I don’t mind stories, as long as they aren’t boring!” Austin said excitedly. Rachel, being aware of Nora’s situation via Dr. Forsythe, rushed in again to redirect the young boy.</p><p>            “Aww…no fun! I’ve never met anyone who was from the Commonwealth before”.</p><p>            “She’s a Vault Dweller too, Austin. She was just travelling out there, and she got hurt. That should tell you all you need to know about the outside world”.</p><p>            Changing the subject, Austin clamped himself down in his chair and asked Nora, “so what’s your Vault like? Is it different?”</p><p>            “It’s…” Nora hesitated, before finally deciding on the words “…smaller. Your Vault’s pretty huge, Austin. There’s a lot more people. I didn’t imagine it would be this nice looking”.</p><p>            “Wow, our Vault’s nicer?” Austin said in disbelief, “I can’t believe it”.</p><p>            His eyes suddenly gleamed with childish mischief.</p><p>            “Hey, if you pay me, I can take you on a tour of our Vault! I know you said it was bigger, right? You should see all the stuff you didn’t see!”</p><p>            “Austin! She can barely walk!” Dr. Rachel insisted.</p><p>            “You know,” Nick nodded, looking to cheer Nora up, “you could probably use a change of scenery. Think we could get a wheelchair? We can prop Nora’s leg on one of the armrests”.</p><p>            “I’ll help!” Austin grinned, before holding out his hands. “Five Caps though”. Nora thought for a moment before deciding there could be no harm in the idea. Laying on a cot in the infirmary was starting to get boring, and she <em>had</em> been curious about what life in a functional Vault would have looked like. Reaching into her pockets, she counted out five bottlecaps for Austin before handing them over. Nick helped her into a wheelchair before they began their tour of the Vault.</p><p>#</p><p>            Vault 81 looked like something out of a Vault-Tec advertisement. The Vault was practically a small, self-sufficient town boasting an infirmary, a school, a general store, a hydroponics room, a diner, and a nuclear reactor. All of the families within Vault 81 had their own living quarters, typically the size of studio apartments. As Austin droned on about the features of his home Vault and Nick Valentine pushed her wheelchair, Nora imagined what her life would have been like if she’d wound up here instead of Vault 111.</p><p>            She and Nate would no doubt have had living quarters of their own. She imagined Shaun sleeping soundly in an underground crib, dressed in an infant-sized Vault 81 jumper. Nora, with her background in law, likely would have wound up working a menial job or under the Vault Overseer. Nate, with his military experience, would no doubt have ended up working for Vault Security. Eventually, Shaun would have grown older and started having lessons at the Vault schoolhouse. Nora imagined Shaun at about Austin’s age, whining about having to help his younger siblings with homework.</p><p>            How many children would Nate and Nora have had if Vault 111 had been normal? Nate had joked a bit after Shaun’s birth about trying again for a daughter. If things had been normal, all of their children would have never known the world outside the Vault, with Shaun being only four months old before the bombs had dropped. What job in the Vault would Shaun eventually grow suited for? Would he work as a guard? A cook? A doctor? Maybe he’d become Overseer while Nate and Nora cheered him on in their old age.</p><p>            “Um…lady, are you crying?” Austin stared at Nora with some concern.</p><p>            “I-I’m fine. Just…taking it all in, Austin”.</p><p>            “You don’t have to cry about it! Is your Vault that much worse?”</p><p>            Nora simply sighed and wiped the tears from her eyes before murmuring softly, “you grew up in a really nice place, Austin”.</p><p>            “Maybe Nora can bring her son here one day to meet you,” Nick said, trying to change the subject.</p><p>            “Woah! You have a kid, lady?”</p><p>            “I do…” Nora confided. “I’ve been away from him a while. He’d be about your age now”.</p><p>#</p><p>            A day after their tour of the Vault, Nick Valentine left temporarily to find a missing cat that had snuck out of the Vault. Austin had brought a girl about his age to the Vault who was crying, concerned that no one from the Vault would look for her pet once he’d left the Vault. A couple of hours later, when Nick arrived with cat in hand, some of the Vault 81 population began to warm up to him.</p><p>            It wasn’t that much more pleasant. Nick had been accosted by Vault 81 residents with only slightly less hostility than he’d gotten from the Brotherhood. Their lack of trigger-happy tendencies towards him didn’t change the fact that several of them found him to be too much of an unknown to tolerate. After bringing Ashes back from the wasteland unharmed, Vault 81 started to treat Nick less like a threat and more like Nora’s personal Mr. Handy. Both Nick and Nora wound up thinking more and more of Codsworth as a result.</p><p>            “He saved our damned lives,” Nora lamented.</p><p>            “A loyal ‘bot,” Nick chuckled. “I’d buy you some alcohol from the depot to toast him with, but the doctors don’t want you drinking anytime soon”.</p><p>            “I’m not a great drunk,” Nora sighed. She looked at Nick earnestly, confessing something that she’d been holding back since the moment they entered the Vault.</p><p>            “I wish we brought him here. Maybe they could have helped…”</p><p>            “Kid, he was already gone. Besides, we barely managed to get you here. The best way to make it up to Codsworth is getting your son back. You heard what he said. I didn’t know your son was a fan of charades”.</p><p>            “Back when he was a baby,” Nora almost chuckled. “He used to make the most adorable faces whenever Nate was playing”.</p><p>            “Excuse me,” an unknown voice suddenly cut in. It was the Overseer.</p><p>            “I’m not interrupting, am I?” Gwen McNamara asked.</p><p>            “No, not at all,” Nora responded. The Overseer pulled up a chair and sat with her.</p><p>            “Now that you’re feeling a bit better, I figured I’d stop by and ask you a few questions. Let me know if anything gets too personal”.</p><p>            “Too…personal?”</p><p>            “You’re the first visitor we’ve ever had from another Vault, Nora, even when I check old manifests from two-hundred years ago. Understandably, there’s a lot of people who are pretty curious about you and where you came from. It’s actually something of a compliment. I know most of our residents could be a bit more welcoming, but you’re very unique as far as visitors go, so they really don’t know what to do with you”.</p><p>            Nora was silent for a moment before asking Gwen, “y’know, I heard all about Vault 81 out in the Commonwealth. It’s the only Vault I heard about besides my own though --- and the ones that are apparently overrun with Gunners”.</p><p>            “Not many functional Vaults in the Commonwealth, Overseer,” Nick confided. “I was trapped in Vault 114 for a while by the Goodneighbor mob. Apparently that one never had any Vault Dwellers in it to begin with, since it was under construction when the bombs fell. With that being said, well… Vault 81’s pretty unique itself”.</p><p>            “It’s sad to hear most Vaults don’t serve their intended purpose anymore,” Gwen sighed. “We’re thankful for Vault-Tec for making it possible for us to have a well-kept home so many years after the end of the world. I guess we were one of the lucky ones”.</p><p>            She looked back at Nora. “Is Vault 111 still operational?”</p><p>            “No,” Nora said after a moment. “Not anymore. Almost no survivors”.</p><p>            “Christ, that’s awful. What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?”</p><p>            Nora chose her next words carefully before simply saying “we were attacked by the Institute”. <em>It is -technically- true.</em></p><p>            “The Institute?” Gwen asked. “That mysterious boogeyman most Commonwealth visitors talk about? They’re actually real?”</p><p>            “Unfortunately they’re all too real,” Nora sighed. “They kidnapped my son and killed everyone else in the Vault who was still alive”.</p><p>            “Vault Security couldn’t stop them?” After Gwen said this, Nora flashed back to the scattered skeletons that littered Vault 111 from a time when Nora was still in cryo-sleep.</p><p>            “No,” Nora said sadly, “and neither could the rest of us. I’m kinda jealous, Madam Overseer. Vault 111 was never meant to last as long as we did. I wish Vault-Tec had taken as much care of us as they did Vault 81”.</p><p>            “I’ve…heard of the experimental Vaults. From prior Overseers, I mean. I won’t pry. I’m sorry for all that you’ve gone through”.</p><p>            She stood for a moment to leave the infirmary before looking back at Nora.</p><p>            “It’s nice to finally meet another Vault Dweller”.</p><p>#</p><p>            The next couple weeks were spent sitting in chairs, committing to volunteer work and giving away some of their salvage from Fort Hagen in exchange for the medical care provided at Vault 81. The night before Nora was set to be discharged from the infirmary’s care, she and Nick had a talk about what had happened in Fort Hagen.</p><p>            “Why do you think they hired Kellogg to take Shaun?” Nora asked.</p><p>            “Kid, I wish I had the first clue,” Nick said. He thought for a moment about what Kellogg had said before continuing, “Kellogg said that Shaun calls the Institute home, right? I can’t imagine a bunch of scientists can interbreed for two-hundred years without some serious problems occurring”.</p><p>            “So, you think this might be some kind of forced adoption? They stole Shaun from the Vault to boost their numbers?”</p><p>            “It doesn’t quite add up,” Nick sighed. “There’s a lot of missing person cases that come to my office, and I’m sure at least a few of them have something to do with the Institute. Shaun’s the only missing <em>kid</em> to be one of those that point to the Institute though. All the other missing kids are kids I’m pretty sure got snatched in the dark by more simplistic boogeymen, or kids that were just unfortunate enough to get lost in the Commonwealth on their own, on a bad day. If the Institute wanted to boost their genetic pool, why would they stop at just Shaun? Hell, why not take you and your husband too? You could have made them a couple more kids while they were at it”.</p><p>            “What do they usually take people for, Nick?”</p><p>            “As far as I know, it’s to replace them with their synth duplicates. I’m sure you realize I’m not talking about synths that look like me, right? I’m talking about synths that look like you”.</p><p>            “Oh god, don’t tell me they—”</p><p>            “That doesn’t actually add up in Shaun’s case either, Nora. I’m almost happy to say that whatever they took Shaun for, it probably wasn’t to replace him”.</p><p>            “What makes you say that?”</p><p>            “Well, it’s simple really,” Nick said. “The things I wind up hearing about synth infiltrators is that they’re always meant to look and act like the person they’re meant to replace. A lot of people think Mayor McDonough’s a synth infiltrator. You’ve read enough of Publick Occurrences to know one such person who’s pretty sure of this. Let’s pretend that the Institute really decided to take your son and replace him with a synth. They’d have to bring the synth back to Vault 111”.</p><p>            “And they didn’t bring Shaun back,” Nora realized. “Hell, they didn’t even leave much of a Vault behind to infiltrate”.</p><p>            “Exactly,” Nick nodded. “My theory is that there’s something about Shaun that made him special. He must have had something they wanted”.</p><p>            “What could a four-month old frozen baby possibly have that the Institute would want?”</p><p>            Nick sighed. “You’re not gonna like this kid, but I think I have an idea of exactly what he has”.</p><p>            He pointed to Nora’s right arm, at the spot where Doctor Forsythe had taken her blood. “I bet it has something to do with your pre-War genetics. There’s still a couple of holes in this theory, so don’t take it too seriously, but it’s the only thing I can think of. Who else in the Commonwealth still exists with that kind of uncorrupted DNA? All the other Vaults are at least a little inbred, and we won’t even get started on what two-hundred years of radiation has done to everyone else. Of course, if this were true, then the Institute could have just taken every last person in cryo in Vault 111. You were <em>all</em> uncorrupted, so why stop at Shaun? Hell, why kill his father? Seems like a waste if that’s their motive”.</p><p>            “Shaun was just a baby,” Nora said softly. “Maybe that had something to do with it”.</p><p>“It must have been something to do with it because it’s the only thing that explains why they were so eager to cut through the rest of you with impunity, just to take him. But even that’s a sketchy theory at best; if being a baby was so important, then why leave you alive as a backup? Well, there’s no point asking about it now, Nora. I guess we’ll just have to ask them when we get there”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Newscaps And Pinned-Up Hats</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 15: In which a decision is made on what must be next to find Shaun.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>NEWSCAPS AND PINNED-UP HATS</h1><p>
  <em>“Save your tears for another day, ooh girl/I said save your tears for another day” – The Weeknd “Save Your Tears”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            From Vault 81, the trip to Diamond City was surprisingly short. Nick Valentine joked that this would make up for lost time, considering they’d left Diamond City on the 3<sup>rd</sup> and were finally returning on the 23<sup>rd</sup>.</p><p>            “We should meet up with Piper when we get into the city,” Nick advised. “I’m not gonna lie to you, we’ve hit a stumbling block in the investigation with Kellogg laying dead on the floor. At times like this, a fresh pair of eyes is a huge help”.</p><p>            “It’s not like it could get any worse,” Nora said somewhat despondently.</p><p>            A huge surprise was waiting for Nora and Nick when they knocked on the door to Publick Occurrences and Piper opened the door.</p><p>            “There you are!” Piper said excitedly, practically hugging Nora and Nick. “It’s been weeks! I was starting to think the Institute grabbed you both”.</p><p>            “We’re a bit resilient for that,” Nick said, “though we did run into some complications with Kellogg”.</p><p>            Piper noticed Nora was still walking with a bit of a limp.</p><p>            “What happened? Did you find your son?”</p><p>            “We need to talk,” Nora said softly. “It’s not good news…”</p><p>            “I was afraid you’d say that,” Piper winced before adding, “but you should know I’ve got company over. Don’t worry --- you’re not interrupting. He came to town asking for you specifically”.</p><p>            Nora raised an eyebrow as she entered Piper’s home. “Who’d come all the way to Diamond City looking for me spec—”</p><p>            She stopped. There was only one man in the Commonwealth who wore a pinned up hat and carried a laser musket.</p><p>            Preston Garvey greeted her with a warm salute and a curt “Hello, General”.</p><p>#</p><p>            “So I hope you don’t mind,” Piper said, passing around Nuka-Colas for the humans in the group, “but I decided to head up to Sanctuary after you left so I could see what the new Commonwealth Minutemen looked like. I gotta hand it to you Blue, your little project is really something”.</p><p>            “It’s Preston’s project,” Nora half-scoffed. “I just help here and there”.</p><p>            “Lots of people have come up to Sanctuary to help,” Preston laughed, taking a swig of his Nuka-Cola. “Not a lot of them go running into Lexington with me to stop a band of raiders. The Minutemen are as much your work as they are mine”.</p><p>            “Blue, Sanctuary’s exploded,” Piper added. “Preston was telling me how it was just you and a couple settlers he brought in when you first met. They’ve got a decent population now. They’ve even started putting up walls and generators and stuff --- it’s crazy! I’ve got my Minuteman article almost ready to publish. I love what you’ve done with the militia”.</p><p>            “Our work at Lexington really inspired people. We’re taking back the Commonwealth one step at a time, and you had a huge hand in that, General”.</p><p>            “How much has happened while we were gone?” Nora asked. Preston was more than happy to give her an update.</p><p>            “Well, we took over a place south of Abernathy Farm called Sunshine Tidings and turned it into a second farm”.</p><p>            “I wish we’d known about that!” Nick laughed. “I had to drag our friend here all the way to Vault 81 for a broken leg! Sunshine Tidings was closer!”</p><p>            “I’m glad to see you back on your feet, General!” Preston said in shock. “Yeah, you should know there are Minutemen there now too. Abernathy Farm’s also a bit bigger. We’ve got a couple men out there working security and Blake Abernathy’s hired a few extra farmhands to supply places like Sanctuary. Sturges has turned Red Rocket into a pretty sizable workshop --- but we’re growing out of it pretty fast. We’ve decided we need to expand further. That’s why I came looking for you”.</p><p>            “Does it involve more raiders and abandoned factories?” Nora asked.</p><p>            “No. I know you’re looking for your son, so I didn’t wanna ask anything too demanding of you. I mostly just want some executive advice. You are the General, after all”.</p><p>            Preston stepped away for a moment towards his belongings and returned with a large map of the Commonwealth. A particular location just north of Cambridge was circled.</p><p>            “This is Starlight Drive-In,” Preston said, pointing to the circle. “Sturges and some new settlers have some amazing ideas to build a working arms factory there for the Minutemen. If we clear out the ghouls that gather around there, we can use the theater lot as a foundation. We’ll probably even have enough room for a little Minuteman HQ”.</p><p>            “We’ve got the forces for clearing out the ghouls, but I wanted to get the go-ahead from you before I started this project”.</p><p>            “It sounds like a really amazing idea,” Nora said. “I take it you’ve got other things your worried about though?”</p><p>            “Well, yeah. Ultimately, I’d like to take back the Castle. Before my time, the Minutemen used to be able to send out broadcasts across the Commonwealth to coordinate the troops. I kinda wonder if losing their main garrison at the Castle was the beginning of all the Minutemen’s problems, y’know? But the Castle is pretty far from Sanctuary. It’s all the way down here --- you remember me telling you about Fort Indepedence?”</p><p>            “We’d need some kind of supply line to make it all the way down there,” Nora judged. “There’s not much of a point having a giant fort all the way in the south if you can’t have it in contact with the forces you have up in Sanctuary”.</p><p>            “And you don’t even know if what attacked the Castle still calls it home,” Piper added. “If something managed to wreck the Minutemen that bad in their hey-day, it had to be something like a behemoth”.</p><p>            “Or a mirelurk queen,” Nick added. “Fort Independence is by the water, right?”</p><p>            “I don’t even want to know what that is,” Nora shuddered, before looking at some of the other markings on Preston’s map. “What’s this circle up here near Starlight?”</p><p>            “Oh, those are two important settlements I’d like to add to the Minutemen. One’s a place called Covenant, and the other is Taffington Boathouse”.</p><p>            “Ooh, Covenant,” Piper grinned. “I’ve always wanted to know what goes on there”.</p><p>            “Famous settlement,” Preston elaborated, “unlike Taffington Boathouse. Taffington just seems like a good place to set up some water purifiers and another farm. We can never have enough food. There was <em>one </em>thing though, General. I think it might be best if <em>you </em>were the one who dealt with Covenant”.</p><p>            “You want me to get Covenant to fly the Minuteman banner?”</p><p>            “They’re not an empty little piece of wasteland that I can just send a bunch of guards too. Covenant’s an established settlement. Apparently, they’re super paranoid about who they let past their gate. You’ve obviously got a knack for diplomacy, General. We’ll handle the firefights. You should be the one doing the negotiating”.</p><p>            “Well, I suppose I could figure something out,” Nora said. “They’re on the way back to Sanctuary…but we still have to deal with finding Shaun”.</p><p>            “They aren’t going anywhere General. Don’t rush --- just be advised that until we have Covenant, I probably can’t push the Minutemen further than Starlight”.</p><p>            “I’ll forgive you for that,” Nora nodded, turning her attention to Piper.</p><p>            “Wait,” Preston said, “there’s one more thing I wanted to ask you”.</p><p>            Nora looked back at Preston.</p><p>            “W-wh…what do you think of the Brotherhood of Steel?”</p><p>            “Their airship flying over Fort Hagen was pretty hard to miss”.</p><p>            “They’re moored at the airport now, Blue,” Piper interjected. “If you were holed up in Vault 81 for a few weeks, you probably didn’t get a chance to see them in action”.</p><p>            “You <em>do </em>have something of a fickle relationship with one Paladin Danse,” Nick Valentine said, before muttering “though the more sour parts of that relationship are probably my fault”.</p><p>            “Lately I’m not sure <em>how</em> to feel about them,” Nora confided. “Danse and his team were genuinely kind to me when I met them, in their own way. Hell, Danse gave me the combat armor piece I’ve got on my chest”.</p><p>            “He’s not a big fan of your friendship with a certain synth detective, though,” Nick snarked. “And I doubt a few words from that silver-tongue of yours is going to convince him otherwise”.</p><p>            “That’s not to mention the rest of the Brotherhood of Steel, who you haven’t met yet,” Piper added. “I’ve got mixed information about the Brotherhood. Apparently, they’re coming from the Capital Wasteland. They’ve had a sizeable force there for a few decades”.</p><p>            “Danse told me that much,” Nora added. “They run out of some place they call the Citadel”.</p><p>            “You know the Citadel as the Pentagon building,” Piper added. “They took over almost thirty years ago. You’ll never believe where they came from before that?”</p><p>            “Communist China?” Nora joked.</p><p>            “Nope. Try all the way out by the NCR,” Piper retorted, before realizing “oh right…you probably don’t know what that is?”</p><p>            “A country out west,” Nick explained further. “It’s a pretty big place. Some of their oldest towns go back to not long after the Great War. They’re made of places you and the old Nick Valentine knew back when they were called “Arizona”, “South California”, and “Nevada”. Some of their biggest cities used to be Los Angeles and Las Vegas”. The Brotherhood of Steel started out from some place in the NCR. They’ve been spreading out eastward as they’ve gotten more developed. Now they’re finally paying the Commonwealth a visit”.</p><p>            “I don’t get the feeling they’re here for a friendly chat,” Preston said. “Back about a decade or so ago, I guess they were pretty friendly. Now they’re just raiders playing military”.</p><p>            “What Preston’s trying to say, Blue, is that they’re under new leadership now. It’s hard to say exactly what this means for the Brotherhood or the Commonwealth, since they’re still kinda figuring themselves out under the new guy. I’ve heard some pretty heroic stories about things the Brotherhood have done, Blue, and I’ve heard some pretty terrible stories too”.</p><p>            “Do you know anything else about the Brotherhood coming to the Commonwealth?” Nora asked, looking at Preston.</p><p>            “Well, whatever they’re up to, I doubt your friend Danse’ll just tell you, even if you show up at Cambridge Police Station without Nick Valentine around. It’s safe to say Danse has something to do with it though, General. You <em>did </em>mention that they asked you to help them get a radio transmitter”.</p><p>            “Yeah,” Nora sighed. “I thought they were trying to go home. Looks like home came to them”.</p><p>            After thinking for a moment, she looked at Preston carefully.</p><p>            “I don’t know enough about them yet to determine if they’re going to be a problem. Maybe given my past dealings with them, I can try and get some more information. For now Preston, just don’t bother them and let me know if they bother you”.</p><p>#</p><p>            “Alright,” Nick said, as Piper opened up her third Nuka-Cola. “It’s really time we focus some attention on the Shaun case. I know the Commonwealth Minutemen are important, but we still have a missing kid to think about”.</p><p>            “I’m sorry General,” Preston said. “I’ve kept my ear to the ground about anything infant related. I haven’t heard anything”.</p><p>            “You’re gonna wanna hear this, Preston. You might as well know too,” Nick Valentine said. “You haven’t heard anything about Shaun because most people haven’t seen him. He was taken to the Institute”.</p><p>            “Are you serious?” Preston gasped. Piper shook her head.</p><p>            “The Institute….hoo boy. And I take it Kellogg didn’t exactly give you a hand-written map with directions?”</p><p>            Nora put her head in her hands, feeling a certain amount of self-disgust. “It’s my fault. I practically went in shooting. Fuck, if it weren’t for my recklessness, maybe Codsworth would still be here”.</p><p>            “Kid,” Nick sighed, “you gotta give yourself a bit more credit. You didn’t go in shooting. The fact that you and Kellogg managed to have a stable conversation between enemies before he decided to make it a firefight shows how much restraint you’re capable of. It was pretty clear as soon as he started talking that he was just trying to get under your skin”.</p><p>            “We could have gotten him alive though…” Nora lamented.</p><p>            “I doubt it, kid. I knew he wasn’t the type to just come quietly as soon as I saw him. You did what you had to do”.</p><p>            “So,” Piper sighed, “a murderer and a kidnapper gets his brains blown out by an avenging parent. It’d be a great ending if we still didn’t have the greatest mystery in the Commonwealth to solve…”</p><p>            “…where the Institute is, and where they have your son,” Preston said sympathetically.</p><p>            There was a moment of silence before a flash of inspiration suddenly shot through Nick Valentine’s circuits.</p><p>            “Hmm…’gets his brains blown out’. <em>His brains</em>. You know, we may not need the man after all!”</p><p>            “You got a fault in the ol’ subroutines, Nick?” Piper asked incredulously.</p><p>            “No, no, here me out,” Nick explained. “There’s a place in Goodneighbor called the Memory Den. You go in and relive old memories as clear as when the day they happened. All we need is a chunk of Kellogg’s brain and we could—”</p><p>            “Jesus Nick, gross! Seriously?” Piper squealed.</p><p>            “Um…hasn’t Kellogg been dead for weeks?” Preston added.</p><p>            “Wait,” Nora realized, “I think I’ve got something here…”</p><p>            She pulled out the device she’d ripped out of Kellogg’s temple. Sure enough, it looked vaguely of preserved brain matter, if preserved brain matter was also full of circuits and tubes.</p><p>            “Cybernetics, huh? We may have just won the damn lottery”.</p><p>            Before Nick could explain further, there was a hurried knock on Piper’s door.</p><p>            “Sure, more house guests,” Piper sighed, getting the door. “Let’s just throw a damn party at Publick Occurrences, why don’t we?”</p><p>            The group were very surprised to find Yefim Bobrov at their door.</p><p>            “Y-you have to help!” Yefim stuttered. “They took him! They took Vadim!”</p><p>#</p><p>            Dividing the work of who’d go where had caused the group to split in two. Nick Valentine broke off on his own, in consideration to the fact that he needed to review a few more details of the case and then make his way over to Goodneighbor to pay his respects to the Memory Den’s Dr. Amari. He chuckled about needing a tune-up anyway. Dr. Amari was apparently one of the few people he knew who was savvy enough with synth hardware to help him out from time to time.</p><p>            The rest of the group made their first stop at the trailer which was both the operating station for Diamond City Radio and Travis Miles’ tiny home. The young man had been outright shocked to know that Nora and her friends were looking for Vadim, but had come through for the group after Nora mentioned (per Yefim) that the same people who took Vadim were the ones who had been involved in the bar fight. Apparently, those particular characters ran with a small raider group at a place called Beantown Brewery. With Travis refusing to stay behind, the group headed out to save Vadim Bobrov.</p><p>            It was an outrageously easy venture, far like the long battles at Fort Hagen and Lexington. Beantown Brewery wasn’t much further away from Diamond City than Vault 81, and the group didn’t encounter any wild animals or feral ghouls on their way through the woods that surrounded the brewery building. Most of the trees were still fried after two-hundred years of radiation, though a few mutated variants were bare only because the season had called for the shedding of their irradiated, multi-colored leaves. To make matters more interesting, the one unfamiliar group that they ran into while they were on their way to Diamond City was a Brotherhood of Steel patrol that was apparently assigned to this area. Nora recognized no one from within the Brotherhood party of five soldiers: two dressed in power armor but with clearly female voices that sounded nothing like Scribe Haylen’s.</p><p>            “The Brotherhood have been making short work of the Commonwealth,” Preston commented. “They go out shooting up feral ghoul dens and super mutant hives on a regular basis”.</p><p>            “That’s not something I can fault them for,” Piper said. “Hell, it might make the Commonwealth Minutemen’s job a little easier”.</p><p>            Once they’d reached Beantown Brewery, they’d cleared it out within minutes. Bull and Gouger had only a small group of unorganized raiders as re-inforcements. Nora still limped a bit but could aim her rifle well enough to take out some of the raiders towards the back offices. Preston Garvey, Piper Wright and Dogmeat could all handle the close combat. Travis Miles even got a good shot or two in, questioning to himself after the mess was cleared and Vadim was safe why he’d even been so worried about broadcasting on the radio in the first place.</p><p>            When their business was done, Vadim paid them with chems and bottlecaps. From there, the group broke off in three directions. Preston and Dogmeat took half the chems and bottlecaps, both for their own needs and to supply the up-and-coming doctor’s office which had sprung up in Sanctuary. Vadim and Travis headed home to Diamond City. Piper and Nora also headed back to Diamond City to stay the night at Piper’s home, since it was getting late. Unlike Vadim and Travis, they left Diamond City again early the next morning to head to Goodneighbor. Nick Valentine wasn’t going to wait forever. Nora felt a void in her heart as she travelled with Piper, realizing that this was the first step in finding Shaun she’d taken without Codsworth at her side.</p><p>            The grief would have to wait. She had to make his sacrifice worth it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Goodneighbor</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 16: In which Nora gets to Goodneighbor and learns more than she bargained for.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>GOODNEIGHBOR</h1><p>
  <em>“I look around and Sin City’s cold and empty/no one’s around to judge me/I can’t see clearly when you’re gone” – The Weeknd “Blinding Lights”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            The route to Goodneighbor from Diamond City was essentially the same as the route from Diamond City to Park Street Station, adding the fact that one had to go a little farther up the same ruined road. Piper and Nora had off-loaded some of their salvage at Diamond City Marketplace before leaving town, with Nora deciding to pay Myrna to send a few shipments of building materials up to Sanctuary. After all, she was the Minuteman General.</p><p>            “Don’t spend all your Caps. We can shop at Goodneighbor too,” Piper advised. “Hell, hold unto a couple of things to trade for once we make it up there”.</p><p>            There were a few small packs of feral ghouls to deal with on the way there, but by now dealing with such dangers had become something of a normal venture for Piper and Nora. They were lucky enough not to encounter much in the way of super mutants on the way through downtown Boston, and could dispatch the smaller groups of ghouls without needing to worry. Best off, when they passed Swan’s pond, he was still sleeping. Wiser from their last encounter with him, they passed Boston Common with quiet care and left the behemoth alone to continue sleeping.</p><p>            Sections of a red brick line still demarcated historical sections of Boston. Nora wondered what had become of some of the famous landmarks and museums that once encompassed the historic Freedom Trail.</p><p>            “The Freedom Trail’s only known for one thing now, Blue,” Piper explained. “The Railroad”.</p><p>            “The Railroad? You still have working trains in the Commonwealth?” Nora half-joked.</p><p>            “No, they’re a group of underground agents who help escaped synths from the Institute. One thing you probably haven’t heard too much about yet is that the Gen-3 synths don’t just look human. They <em>act</em> human. Hell, apparently they have free will. Yeah, some of the flesh-and-blood synths of the Commonwealth, like ‘Mayor McDonough’, really are just high-tech imitations. There’s a whole lot of human-looking synths who are pretty decent people though, and just wanna live a life free of the Institute”.</p><p>            “The Institute won’t just let them go, I take it,” Nora surmised.</p><p>            “Hell, if they did, there probably wouldn’t be a Railroad. There’s not much else I know about the Railroad though. Apparently if you’re looking for them, you can follow the Freedom Trail, but in the time I’ve spent following it, all I’ve found were ruined buildings”.</p><p>            Ruined skyscrapers loomed over the two women now as they reached the heart of downtown Boston. Much of the buildings looked far from inhabitable, but Nora noticed thick, makeshift fencing lining an area encompassing a couple city blocks. Piper had led them right up to the front entrance, where one solitary door was accompanied by a glowing neon sign which said only “Goodneighbor”.</p><p>            “Watch your wallet, Blue,” Piper said. “We’re here”.</p><p>#</p><p>            There were always places where the least desirable of society ended up, whether by their own ingenium or cruel misfortune. Goodneighbor was one of those places in the post-War Commonwealth. Nora Mulyer reflected on how some things never changed.</p><p>            Preston had been totally correct in his earlier description of the city. Surprisingly more populated than Nora was expecting, Goodneighbor was comprised of three different kinds of people. The first were obvious gangsters, criminals, and other low-lives who took advantage of the city’s relatively lax social code and law enforcement policies. The second were beggars, drug addicts, and other less savory but not necessarily criminal elements of Commonwealth society. The city was open to prostitution, with night-walkers of both sexes advertising their services on the main roads unabashedly. The third segment of Goodneighbor society, which aligned closely but not wholly with the second, were many sentient ghouls: more than Nora had ever seen before in one place. She remembered dis-heartedly that Preston had mentioned this was one of the only “safe” places for the ghouls to live.</p><p>            A thug of unknown origin began accosting the two women as they entered the marketplace, asking them if they needed “insurance”, since they were new to Goodneighbor. Nora murmured something unkind to the man before trying to find a way to just walk around him. Before she could do anything, a flamboyantly dressed male ghoul in colonial attire approached the group.</p><p>            “Hey!” He said. Despite his small stature and nasal ghoul voice, there was something immediately intimidating about him. Piper whispered to Nora that this ghoul was actually Mayor Hancock of Goodneighbor himself.</p><p>            “Someone comes through that gate the first time, they’re a guest,” the Mayor warned. “You lay off that extortion crap”.</p><p>            “She ain’t one of us, Hancock”.</p><p>            “No love for you Mayor, Finn? I said let her go”.</p><p>            “You’re getting soft, Hancock,” Finn retorted. “You keep letting outsiders walk all over us and maybe one day there’ll be a new Mayor”.</p><p>            “C’mon man, this is me we’re talking about,” Hancock said. A twisted grin appeared over his already garish features. With both hands open, he approached Finn as if he were about to give the man a firm embrace.</p><p>            “Let me tell you something…” Hancock’s voice continued. It was only after he closed the gap between himself and Finn that Nora and Piper saw the huge knife strapped to Hancock’s hip. With one smooth motion, Hancock’s arm suddenly snapped backwards for the knife and then forwards with the knife, straight into Finn’s stomach. Two stab-wounds later, the thug was desperately clutching his insides to his abdomen before collapsing from the shock and dying right there on the road.</p><p>            As if it were just another day, Hancock merely cleaned the knife and looked at Nora. He’d seen Piper before, but having a Vault Dweller stumble into Goodneighbor was rare.</p><p>            “You all right, sister?”</p><p>            “Oh…” Nora said softly, “…yeah. I’m f-fine”.</p><p>            “Good. Now don’t go letting this little incident taint your view of our little town. Goodneigbor’s of the people, for the people, as long as you remember who’s in charge. Got it?”</p><p>#</p><p>            The Memory Den was a large building which had once been a theater of some kind in pre-War days. Most of the chairs had been removed and replaced with large booths reminiscent of the cryo-pods of Vault 111. Rather than false pretenses and liquid nitrogen, these booths were filled with television screens and the people who paid to watch them. On each screen, happy memories of the pod’s inhabitant flashed before them. An off-duty member of the Goodneighbor Neighborhood Watch had a monitor where he watched a supple woman in a skimpy dress walk down the streets of Goodneighbor over and over again. Other booth inhabitants watched more mundane memories: drinks with friends. Nights with family. The memories of one or two of the ghoul inhabitants looked pre-War. Nora questioned what their lives in particular had been like, wading through the horrors that were brought into the world following the end of a society they’d unknowingly shared with her.</p><p>            At the back of the main room, a woman in a corset and Victorian-era gown lounged on a chaise while flirting with Nick Valentine. He turned around to notice that Piper and Nora had just arrived.</p><p>            “Good, they’re finally here,” Nick said. “We’re ready to see the doctor now, Irma”.</p><p>            Irma smirked with a devilish, seductive air before pointing to a hallway behind her, to the left. “Amari’s downstairs, you big flirt”.</p><p>#</p><p>            “Dr. Amari?” Nick asked once they’d reached the basement of the Memory Den. The basement laboratory was full of computers and consoles, not unlike the ruins of Fort Hagen’s Command Center. A woman with a dark complexion and a neat black bun of hair was bent over once of the consoles in a lab coat and a skirt, examining some read-out of data on the screen.</p><p>            “Nick?” She said recognizingly, turning around to see not only the detective, but Diamond City’s most notorious reporter and an unknown Vault Dweller.</p><p>            “I take it this isn’t a social call?” Amari asked.</p><p>            “You’re the one who extracts memories from brains, right?” Nora asked matter-of-factly.</p><p>            “Normally, we only allow clients to experience their own memories. What’s this all about?”</p><p>            Nick Valentine took over. “We need a memory scan, Amari, but this won’t be an easy one. The perp, Kellogg, is already dead on the floor”.</p><p>            “Are you two mad?” Amari barked, both shocked and disgusted. “Putting aside the fact that you’re asking me to defile a corpse, you realize the memory loungers require living, intact brains to function?”</p><p>            “Amari,” Nick said seriously, “this isn’t any normal dig. Piper Wright and I are both here because this case is the most serious one I’ve ever brought to your door. This brain had inside knowledge of the Institute: the biggest scientific secret of the Commonwealth! You need this, and so do we…”</p><p>            “Please,” Nora added. “They took my son. This is my only chance to get back to him”.</p><p>            “Alright,” Amari said, taking the Institute’s involvement into account. “Do you…ugh. Have it with you?”</p><p>            “Well, it’s not really a brain, but I have this”. Nora handed Amari the somehow still intact section of Kellogg’s cybernetic brain implant. Amari looked at it curiously, remarking that it wasn’t a brain before realizing, “wait…that’s the hippocampus! And this thing attached to it? A neural interface?”</p><p>            “Those circuits look awfully familiar,” Nick lamented.</p><p>            “I’m not surprised. All Institute handiwork seems to have a similar infrastructure. I’d need something compatible to plug this into, though, for it to work with the lounger”.</p><p>            “You’re talking about me, right?” Nick said forebodingly. “I’m an old Institute synth. If the Institute used similar parts to build me, we might have a way in”.</p><p>            “Are you…sure?” Nora asked. Piper added “yeah Nick, this isn’t something to joke about”.</p><p>            “We’re talking about plugging something into his brain,” Amari said worriedly. “There’s no telling what the long-term side effects could be. I can’t even begin to find a place to start listing the risks”.</p><p>            “I’m well past the warranty date anyway, Amari,” Nick said sternly, adding a bit of his trademark morbid sarcasm in between. “If I start cackling like an old, grizzled mercenary, pull me out, okay?”</p><p>            “Nick,” Nora said, feeling a lump form in her throat. “Th-thank you”.</p><p>            “You can thank me when we’ve found your son. Now, let’s get this over with”.</p><p>            There was a moment of bated anticipation as Dr. Amari sat Nick Valentine down in a chair and searched through the back of his head to find a compatible plug for the cybernetic attachment.</p><p>            “I need you to keep talking to me, Mr. Valentine. Any slight change in your cognitive functions could be dire”.</p><p>            “It’s all flashes, Doc. Static and lights. I can’t seem to make any sense of it”.</p><p>            “That’s what I was afraid of,” Dr. Amari said sadly. “It seems the Institute had one last failsafe in place. There’s an encrypted lock on the memories”.</p><p>            She thought for a moment before realizing, “wait, what if we use two brains?”</p><p>She pointed at Nora before continuing, “think of it like computer encryption, and we don’t have the password. A single mind can’t be used to crack the code, but what if we use two? We load you and Mr. Valentine into the memory loungers and run your cognitive processes in parallel. He’ll act as a host, while your consciousness drives through whatever memories we can find”.</p><p>Once both Nora and Nick had agreed and been loaded into the memory loungers, Dr. Amari began the procedure. Piper watched with bated breath, sitting in a chair between Nora and Nick and watching them both with careful attention.</p><p>#</p><p>            Kellogg’s memories were a soupy mess of broken thoughts. Amari was loading the memories from earliest to latest, filtering by the strongest memories she could find. Nora found herself first in a ruined room with a very young Kellogg and his parents. She almost had no interest at all in Kellogg’s childhood --- <em>why would this be important? </em>--- before hearing a radio broadcast in the background.</p><p>            The radio announced the creation of the newly minted NCR: the New California Republic. Nora flashed back to the history lesson she’d gotten from Piper and Preston just a day ago. Wasn’t the NCR founded almost a hundred years ago?</p><p>            “Um…when was the NCR founded again?” Nora asked allowed. She wondered if Dr. Amari and Piper even could. If they could, she heard no response back. Chalking her interpretation of the memory up to her imagination, she wandered into another memory. What she saw next was Kellogg at about her age, washing dishes next to his wife. In a crib nearby rested a small child. Jaded as she was about having to sit through Kellogg’s personal life, she felt a hole in the pit of her gut when she realized that something <em>bad</em> must have happened to Kellogg’s family for him to have become the man he was when Nora had first encountered him. From the window of Kellogg’s home, Nora saw an outstanding view of the Golden Gate Bridge. She wondered what the road from San Francisco to Boston had looked like in the days after the bombs.</p><p>            Drifting through the rest of Kellogg’s memories, she saw the aftermath of Kellogg’s family being murdered by some faction in San Francisco. From there, she saw his memories of descending into murderous, cold-blooded mercenary work. She wondered if she’d find anything relevant before finally seeing a much older Kellogg, now balding and sporting his trademark scar, standing in front of a woman.</p><p>            All of Kellogg’s memories until now had ultimately been about the wasteland that America had become. Societies were cobbled together in the ruins of a world that had died in nuclear flames. You could see the decay in the buildings, the irradiated air, and even the way that wastelanders looked and dressed. Their hair was always either cropped short or messy. Their clothes were always made of found rags or patched versions of pre-War outfits. The woman seated at the table in front of Kellogg showed no signs of such decay.</p><p>            Her outfit was neat, fitted, and the cleanest shade of white that Nora had seen after the bombs had fallen. On her arm was the symbol of the Vitruvian man, much like the symbol she’d seen on Mayor McDounoughs’s paperwork in Diamond City. Surrounding her were several Gen-1 model synths, so rudimentary that they didn’t even possess facial features or skin-like plastic casing. Nora watched as Kellogg and the Institute agent conversed. She’d clearly met with him to intimidate him. He’d apparently been interfering with Institute operations for a while.</p><p>            Kellogg responded by making her a counter-offer, stating that he wouldn’t have reason to continue jobs that conflicted with the Institute agenda if the Institute merely added him to their payroll. The Institute agent disregarded the offer until the moment where Kellogg suddenly dispatched all of her synth bodyguards with brutal efficiency.</p><p>            Nora suddenly found herself closing in on the next memory, unsure how long after Kellogg’s employment with the Institute it occurred. She was in the hallway of Vault 111, watching helplessly in horror as he destroyed her entire life.</p><p>            She was horrified to see the woman in the cleansuit carry away Shaun as if he were a parcel rather than a human child. She heard the echo of the gunshot that ended her husband’s life, feeling the unsettling sensation of Nate’s blood spurting out of his chest and splashing unto Kellogg’s outfit. She heard her own screams in the background as Nate fell to the ground, and watched as Kellogg turned towards her and coldly called her “the backup” again. As she saw Kellogg leave the Vault behind, she saw another Institute scientist on a Vault terminal, shutting down the life support to all cryo-pods except Nora’s.</p><p>            “No loose ends,” Kellogg had told him. “It’s the old man’s orders. Leave the parents alive if possible. Kill everyone else”.</p><p>            One final memory surfaced afterwards, at a place Nora had seen before. She found Kellogg sitting in a chair on the lower floor of his home in Diamond City, in the middle of cleaning his revolver. A boy was laying on the floor of the shack, reading a relatively well-preserved issue of <em>Astoundingly Awesome Tales!</em> Looking at his brunette hair and into his eyes, Nora suddenly realized exactly who this child was.</p><p>            <em>Shaun?</em></p><p>            The front door opened suddenly. Before Shaun could react, Kellogg aimed his gun and aimed right for the intruder’s head. Nora saw the man standing at the door uninvited: a man in a black coat not unlike the one that she’d seen in a dream almost a month ago. The coat covered the mystery man’s whole body, and his eyes were obscured by a law-enforcement grade set of sunglasses. Kellogg aimed the revolver up at the ceiling as he recognized the man.</p><p>            “One of these days you’re going to get your head blown off, barging in here like that,” Kellogg warned.</p><p>            The man in the coat had a strikingly monotone voice. “Minimizing my exposure to civilians is a priority”.</p><p>            Kellogg merely smirked. “Forget I said anything. What’s the big crisis this time?”</p><p>            The unnamed man produced a file from under his arm. Kellogg got up and looked at it as the man explained, “one of our scientists has left the Institute”.</p><p>            “Left,” Kellogg said, sounding uncharacteristically confused, “…as in?”</p><p>            “He’s gone rogue. Name’s Doctor Brian Virgil. We know he’s hiding somewhere in the Glowing Sea. Here’s his file”.</p><p>            Kellogg reviewed the paperwork, stopping once to look back at Shaun. The boy looked back up at the men with slight curiosity before focusing back down to his comic. When Kellogg had finished evaluating his target and exchanging some questions with the Institute handler, he looked down at Shaun a second time.</p><p>            “So,” he asked, “I guess you’re taking the boy back with you?”</p><p>            “Affirmative. Your only mission is to locate and eliminate Virgil”.</p><p>            “Are you taking me home to my father?” Nora heard Shaun finally speak. His voice was still high-pitched and squeaky like most young boys his age, but his demeanor and the look in his eyes were unmistakably reminiscent of Nate. She’d finally found her son. Kellogg hadn’t been lying about Shaun being safe and loved, at least, although Nora wondered who it was that cared for him and loved him in place of his parents.</p><p>            She watched every movement of Shaun’s carefully as he got up and approached the man in the coat. “Yes,” the man said, “stand very close to me and hold still”.</p><p>            After following his instructions, Nora saw Shaun turn to Kellogg and smile widely.</p><p>            “Bye Mr. Kellogg! I hope I see you again someday”.</p><p>            A flash of light suddenly lit up the whole room, like a lightning strike directly on where Shaun and the Institute agent were standing. When the flash dimmed, both of them were gone. Kellogg looked out into the now-empty living room and said simply, “Bye”. Before Nora could process what had just happened, Dr. Amari’s voice could be heard overhead.</p><p>            “Teleportation…! No one’s found the entrance to the Institute because there <em>is no entrance!</em> Now hold on, I’m going to get you out of there…”</p><p>#</p><p>            “Blue? Blue?! You okay?”</p><p>            The real world was spinning. Nora felt as though she were disembarking a roller coaster as Dr. Amari and Piper carefully pulled her out of the memory lounger. The pod next to her was empty, with Nick Valentine nowhere to be found.</p><p>            “Easy…easy. Take it nice and slow. I injected you with a large Stimpak before I pulled you out”.</p><p>            After Nora had a moment to adjust to returning to her own mind and body, Amari took a moment to question her.</p><p>            “First off, are you feeling alright? No one’s ever done this before”.</p><p>            “I’m…” Nora hesitated, admitting “well, I’ve been better”.</p><p>            “Let’s talk about what happened in there. Because of you, we know one can only access the Institute with teleportation. We also know Kellogg was meant to track down a defector from the Institute…but where did it say he was? The Glowing Sea? That can’t be right”.</p><p>            “With a name like the Glowing Sea, it can’t be good,” Nora worried.</p><p>            “It’s the blast zone from the largest bomb that fell two-hundred years ago,” Amari elaborated. Nora remembered the giant bomb that had fallen to the south of Sanctuary when she had been standing on the Vault elevator. The mushroom cloud was <em>huge</em>.</p><p>            “But…that place would be completely irradiated,” Nora realized. A moment later, she realized why Virgil had gone there. Amari had done the same, but spoken first.</p><p>            “He must be using the radiation in the Glowing Sea like a shield or a cloak! A way to throw them off and be at an advantage”.</p><p>            “Blue,” Piper nodded, “if Virgil found a way to get around all that radiation, then we need to do the same”.</p><p>            “You’re right,” Nora sighed. “But how do we even do that? It’s not like we can just get some Rad-Away”.</p><p>            “You’d need all the Rad-X and Rad-Away you could carry to even stand a chance,” Amari nodded, “and even then, the Glowing Sea can kill a man within a few seconds. You’d probably need to find a working radiation suit or a set of power armor”.</p><p>            “Maybe your connection in the Brotherhood of Steel can finally pay off, Blue”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Word had gotten around Goodneighbor that a Vault Dweller had entered the city. In a city full of what the rest of the Commonwealth considered oddities and freaks, Nora found herself to be something of a town curiosity.</p><p>            “Look at the smooth-skin,” a passing ghoul whispered. “Spent her whole life in one of those fancy Vaults. What’s she doing here?”</p><p>            “I was in Malden when the bombs hit, but I couldn’t get entry to the local Vault there. They’d already sealed everything off by the time I got there. Fuck, what I wouldn’t have given to be in her ancestor’s shoes…”</p><p>            “Hey, Vault Girl,” a non-ghoulified man standing on the corner said, “you ever tried X-Cell? Best shit you’ve ever inhaled. Two-hundred Caps, or maybe we can trade it for a glimpse at what’s under the suit”.</p><p>            “Goodneighbor,” Nick sighed. “It’s got its moments. Of course, it’s got its good ones too. We’ve been under a lot of stress lately, and as dangerous as it can be here, it’s even worse outside at this time of night”.</p><p>            “What’re you suggesting?” Piper asked.</p><p>            “We check in at the Hotel Rexford for the night and take Nora to see Magnolia. She performs at the Third Rail”.</p><p>            “Magnolia?” Nora asked, half wanting to just bunker in a hotel room away from the rest of the city at this point. Piper’s eyes lit up.</p><p>            “Magnolia! Oh, we absolutely <em>should</em> take Blue. Might as well do something fun while we’re here”.</p><p>            “She’s a singer. You might have heard her on Diamond City Radio, kid,” Nick chuckled. “Wandered into Goodneighbor from god-knows-where some time ago, and the city took a liking to her. She’s a character, but you might like her more than you think”.</p><p>            “The Third Rail’s the bar, right? Can’t hurt. It’s been a long day. Alright Piper, Nick. Let’s go”.</p><p>            While the Dugout Inn operated out of a baseball dugout, the Third Rail operated out of an old subway station within the bounds of Goodneighbor’s wall. A ghoulified bouncer glanced emotionally at Nick, Piper, and Nora as they all entered the room.</p><p>            “Don’t cause trouble and there won’t be trouble. Entertainment’s down the stairs,” he murmured. Despite his grotesque appearance, he was surprisingly well-dressed in a formal hat and tuxedo. Nora wondered how much the Third Rail paid him to deal with some of the ruffians who inevitably passed through.</p><p>            The echoes of a woman crooning greeted the group as they entered the bar and sat at one of the tables. Nora accompanied Piper as the reporter walked to the counter and asked the bartender, a Mr. Handy sporting a Cockney accent, for a round of whiskey. Nora felt naked hearing more of the bar patrons drunkenly commenting on the curves of her Vault Suit. If it weren’t for the tactical lining, she’d likely have rid herself of the suit altogether by now.</p><p>            While Nick lit a cigarette and enjoyed the music, Magnolia took a break from her performance and stepped down to the counter to get her own refreshments. Piper stood at the bar, eyeing Magnolia with an increasingly reddening face that Nora wasn’t sure was entirely attributable to the alcohol. Against her better judgment, she wandered away from the main area of the bar, finding a private room towards the back that was quieter and sported less eyes climbing up and down her body.</p><p>            A few figures all ahead, all dressed in various shades of green, barely paid any attention to her as she wandered to the back of the room and sat down to clear her head. One of the men was sitting down away from the bar, while the other two were standing around him intimidatingly. They were obviously in the middle of an argument.</p><p>            “In case you forgot, I left the Gunners for good”, the seated man said.</p><p>            “And yet you’re still taking jobs in the Commonwealth. That isn’t going to work for us”.</p><p>            “I don’t take orders from you anymore. Now, why don’t you take your girlfriend here”, the seated man pointed at his aggressor’s male companion before continuing, “and get out of here while you still can?”</p><p>            “What?” The “girlfriend” scoffed. “Winlock, don’t tell me we have to take this shit”.</p><p>            “Should we take this outside?” The younger man smirked, looking up at Winlock and his friends. Winlock spat into the corner before continuing, “it ain’t like that. I’m just here to deliver a message. See MacCready, we respect other’s people’s boundaries, which is something you never learned to do. Now I’d love to settle this outside, but we don’t want a war with Goodneighbor. You can play the tough guy all you want, but if we hear you’re still operating in Gunner territory, all bets are off. Got it?”</p><p>            “You finished?” MacCready snarked.</p><p>            “Yeah,” Winlock sighed as he turned away. “We’re finished”.</p><p>            Once they were alone, MacCready took a moment to turn to Nora and engage her in conversation.</p><p>            “A Vault Dweller and a former Gunner walk into the back room of the Third Rail. God, I wonder what the punchline is”.</p><p>            “Sorry to disappoint you MacCready, but I’m in no mood for comedy”.</p><p>            “Oh, well that’s no fun! Jokes on you sister. This isn’t the greatest place in the world to be wearing a Vault Suit. I bet you know that, and yet here you are wandering into shady bars all by yourself. Fuck, half of Goodneighbor’s probably making plans to stab you in the kidney and trade your Pip-Boy for spare parts”.</p><p>            “Last guy who tried to sell me insurance when I walked into Goodneighbor actually <em>did</em> get stabbed in the kidney and traded in for spare parts,” Nora jokingly retorted. MacCready burst out laughing.</p><p>            “And you said you weren’t in the mood for comedy. Could have fooled me. What’s your name?”</p><p>            “Not interested,” Nora deadpanned.</p><p>            “Now that’s not fair! You know my name, Vault Girl. Besides, don’t worry. I’m not selling insurance”.</p><p>            “So what <em>are</em> you selling?”</p><p>            “Guns. Hired guns. <em>Mine</em>, particularly. Anyone who’s in Goodneighbor could use one, and a Vault Dweller in Goodneighbor could probably use a couple”.</p><p>            “If that’s the case, maybe I oughta hire those two,” Nora murmured.</p><p>            “Pft! Winlock and Barnes? They couldn’t kill a squirrel with a rocket launcher”.</p><p>            Nora thought earnestly for a moment about MacCready’s offer. Somewhere underneath the tough exterior he put in, Nora could sense that he was like most salesman: trying to make a few quick Caps. The ultimate question was for what purpose. Was he just another greedy wastelander, or was his attitude and enthusiasm for mercenary work just a cover for something more desperate?</p><p>            A devilishly comical idea suddenly crossed Nora’s mind.</p><p>            “How much?”</p><p>            “Huh?” MacCready was bewildered. He’d obviously been expecting her to put up more resistance.</p><p>            “Let’s say I <em>do</em> need a mercenary,” Nora posited. “You claim you’re a better buy than those two men who were in here accosting you. Let’s say I believe you. How much do I owe you?”</p><p>            “Your name and two-hundred and fifty Caps”.</p><p>            “Make it my name and three-hundred and fifty Caps”.</p><p>            MacCready raised an eyebrow before asking, “what’s the catch?”</p><p>            “You want the job or not?”</p><p>            There was a moment’s hesitation before MacCready decided to play along, holding out his hands as Nora counted out seven strings of fifty Caps each. She told him her name as he double-checked the amount before looking up at her.</p><p>            “Alright. What am I doing?” MacCready asked, almost worried.</p><p>            Nora grinned at him mischievously.</p><p>            “Congrats on your one-month contract with the Commonwealth Minutemen”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Nora wasn’t sure who among Piper, Nick, and MacCready was the most surprised when they’d been introduced to each other. MacCready didn’t completely believe that Nora Mulyer was the new up-and-coming General of the Minutemen until being handed a copy of Publick Occurrences by Piper and realizing what he’d just been signed up for.</p><p>            “Well, I guess I appreciate that you upped my Caps,” MacCready retorted, before muttering “…although I wish you’d added on a few more since I’m at it for a whole month”.</p><p>            “You can always give me my Caps back and we can call it a day,” Nora said.</p><p>            “Pass. I’ll take what I can get. Maybe I’ll find better jobs once I’m out of Goodneighbor anyway,” MacCready said. He watched the rest of the group eye him suspiciously before adding “<em>don’t worry</em>, I won’t take the Caps and ditch the job. It’s bad for business”.</p><p>            The group rented the sole remaining room in the Hotel Rexford before settling in for the night in various spots on the floor (or in MacCready’s case, the bed, after calling “dibs”). Nora took a moment to step outside for a breath of fresh air before suddenly hearing another ghoulish voice call out to her.</p><p>            “It…it can’t be! It’s you!”</p><p>            <em>What is it now?</em> Nora grumbled within the confines of her mind, before turning around and getting an unexpected shock. <em>She knew this ghoul.</em> His features were contorted and disfigured after two centuries of radiation and mutations, but the tattered yellow trenchcoat and fedora were unmistakably the same as what the Vault-Tec salesman from Sanctuary had been wearing when he’d sold the Mulyer family their space in the Vault.</p><p>            “Vault-Tec?!”</p><p>            “How?!” He demanded, “look at you! Two-hundred years and you’re still perfect! How?! How’s that possible?!”</p><p>            Reeling from the shock and feeling a bit of animosity over what happened in Vault 111, Nora proceeded to tell the Vault-Tec salesman everything. He learned about the cryo-pods, the experiments, the mutiny, and the break-in. Despite this, the jaded salesman could only remark on how he’d had to get to the future “the hard way”. Nora did her best to bite her tongue as she begrudgingly invited the ghoul to Sanctuary.</p><p>            Deep down, she felt a bit of sympathy for him. She hated Goodneighbor after just a day. However long he’d been stuck here must have been hell.</p><p>            “Really?” He asked her, almost crying. “You…you mean it?”</p><p>            “Yeah. I’m sure I can find a job for a ghoul with two centuries of sales experience. It might take me a bit, but…well, we’re both ancient. What’s a couple more weeks?”</p><p>            After re-assuring him that she’d even come and visit him once he was situated in Sanctuary and she had a chance to head back in that direction, she watched him head back to his hotel room with a glimpse of what seemed like the biggest smile she’d seen in a long time. Turning around to return to her room, she noticed that her companions had wandered out of the hotel room to look for her.</p><p>            They all seemed impressed.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Gray Skies</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 17: In which Nora stumbles across a particularly suspicious settlement.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>GRAY SKIES</h1><p>
  <em>“And if you close your eyes/does it almost feel like/you’ve been here before?/How am I gonna be an optimist about this?” – Bastille “Pompeii”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            Bunker Hill had changed a lot from the days when Nate and Nora had visited it. The once proud monument had several holes knocked into the obelisk from various points. MacCready commented casually that the hole at the top was an amazing spot for a sniper’s perch. Taking into consideration the fact that it overlooked the main entrance to the settlement, Nora couldn’t help but agree with him. She looked back at the still identifiable street corner where she and Nate had once posed for the picture she carried with her, back when things were better.</p><p>            Piper and Nick had split from the group after they’d left Goodneighbor, returning to Diamond City to look into ways to help mitigate radiation, leaving just Nora and MacCready to travel together. As much as Nora had come to enjoy their company, she lamented that where she was going, it would probably be useless to her. Taking MacCready into Minutemen territory would be a priority as Nora traced her steps back towards Sanctuary. There were two possible places for Nora to get a set of power armor to traverse the Glowing Sea. One possibility was seeking out help from Sturges to upgrade the T-45 from the Museum of Freedom to be worthy of a trip to the Glowing Sea. The second possibility was stopping at Cambridge and seeking the assistance of the Brotherhood of Steel. Either way, Nora would have to pass through Covenant as she returned from Goodneighbor, and passing through Covenant from Goodneighbor often meant passing through Bunker Hill as well.</p><p>            “You ever been through Bunker Hill before, Nora?” MacCready asked.</p><p>            “Yes and no,” Nora murmured cryptically. “It’s a long story”.</p><p>            “I’m not sure I wanna know,” MacCready chuckled. The air around the obelisk wrecked of brahmin shit and human piss. The courtyard around Bunker Hill had been walled off with salvage and dotted with various shacks. What had once been the Visitor’s Center was now a trading post for various caravans travelling across the Commonwealth.</p><p>            “I gotta buy some more ammo,” MacCready said, leaving Nora for a moment to check out one of the shop stalls. Nora wandered around the town for a moment, reflecting on how different things seemed to be before finding a strange holotape laying abandoned on a table past the shops. In crude handwriting on the tape were the words “Join the Railroad”. Curious to hear about this extra element of the Commonwealth, Nora put the tape in her Pip-Boy to listen to what it had to say. A middle-aged woman’s voice read back a scripted message.</p><p>            “Wake up, Commonwealth. Synths are not your enemy. They are victims in this war as well. True, they were created by the Institute, but they were created as slaves. Thinking, feeling, and dreaming beings utterly oppressed by their tyrannical masters. So join with us in fighting the real enemy: the Institute. Join the Railroad. When you’re ready for that next step, we’ll find you”.</p><p>            Unsure of what to do with the holotape, she replaced it within her Pip-Boy for her treasured tape from Nate. At moments where she had a bit of alone time, she still turned the tape on and listened carefully to her lost family’s voices. It was possible that one day Shaun would finally know his real father’s voice because of that tape. Once her husband’s voice was secured, Nora looked back at the second tape she’d left sitting on the table for a moment before deciding to pocket it for later reference.</p><p>            After their quick stop-over in Bunker Hill, MacCready and Nora stood near the waterfront and took a look at the southeastern skyline. The Brotherhood airship could clearly be seen moored over the Boston Airport. Nora questioned what someone like Danse would think of the Railroad.</p><p>            “MacCready,” Nora asked.</p><p>            “Yeah?”</p><p>            “What’s your opinion of synths?”</p><p>            “Not favorable,” MacCready said simply. “I don’t get why that’s even a question”.</p><p>            “Just curious. I’ve been hearing a lot about them lately”.</p><p>            “Don’t worry boss. I’m not gonna let those people-snatchers get you. Not till the end of the month, at least!”</p><p>            After a moment of laughter (feigned on Nora’s part), they began to head to Covenant. There were storm clouds rolling in from the direction of the airport. The duo both agreed that they needed to reach Covenant before the brunt of the storm arrived.</p><p>            “We’ll probably make it to Covenant in time,” MacCready said. “Barely, but we should…”</p><p>            They walked a bit more before he asked her a question of his own.</p><p>            “So, you said you’d been to Bunker Hill before?”</p><p>            “Yes. And no”.</p><p>            “How’s that work, boss?”</p><p>            “It was a very long time ago. Bunker Hill was a very different place”.</p><p>            “Pft? Really? Bunker Hill’s been a whole as long as most of the traders can remember, and they’re a lot order than you or I. Old Man Stockton’s been at that same stall for the past thirty years now, apparently”.</p><p>            “Well, I can’t say he was there when I came through here last,” Nora chirped.</p><p>            “And when was that? Before the bombs fell?”</p><p>            “Would you believe me if I told you so?”</p><p>            “I know you and your penchant for twisted comedy, Nora. I’m not getting suckered into any more of your tricks”.</p><p>            They were silent for a moment, following the road westward, before Nora asked, “what if I could prove it?”</p><p>            “How would you possibly manage that?”</p><p>            “Ever seen a working camera, MacCready?”</p><p>            “Couple times. I’ve even had my picture taken once. Apparently I’m really photogic”.</p><p>            “…<em>photogenic</em>, you mean?”</p><p>            “Nah, I’m pretty sure it’s ‘photogic’”.</p><p>            “What if I told you I had my picture taken there?”</p><p>            “Before the War? I’d love to see that,” MacCready snarked.</p><p>            Nora pulled out the photo of herself and her husband before showing it to MacCready. To her knowledge, she wasn’t even sure she’d shown Nick or Piper this picture before.</p><p>            “Holy shit,” MacCready cursed, staring at the photo in disbelief. “No, that can’t possibly be right. You’re tricking me again. Those are you great-great-grandparents or something”.</p><p>            “That’s me,” Nora said, as stark realization crept across MacCready’s face about the validity of her claim.</p><p>            “Who’s the suit?”</p><p>            “My… late husband”.</p><p>            “What, he didn’t get the secret to immortality too?” MacCready joked uncomfortably, before recoiling a little and apologizing.</p><p>            “Yeah, sorry,” he murmured, “that one was out of line”.</p><p>            “It’s fine,” Nora said after a moment. “Humor’s a good way to deal with uncomfortable topics”.</p><p>            “Nah, I should have known better. I’ve lost someone too,” MacCready elaborated. “If you’d have made that kind of joke about my wife, I probably would have fed you your teeth”.</p><p>            “Let’s just forget that happened,” Nora sighed, before adding, “you’re probably the first widowed person I’ve made friends with out here”.</p><p>            “Yeah, friends…” MacCready said pensively. He wasn’t outright agreeing with her, but he didn’t seem to be dismissing the idea.</p><p>            “If you …uh, don’t mind me asking, what was her name, MacCready?”</p><p>            “I’ll tell you hers if you tell me his”.</p><p>            “Nathan. Nate, to me, at least”.</p><p>            “Lucy,” MacCready murmured, the name hanging off his lips much the same way as Nate’s did from Nora’s.</p><p>#</p><p>            As the sky grew darker and the wind began to pick up, MacCready and Nora rushed to expedite their journey to Covenant. MacCready had been around the Commonwealth enough to know the safest routes to and from the major settlements. Avoiding the ruins of the BADTFL building, they kept close to a larger road that took them past a large shop named Wattz Consumer Electronics. As tempting as the salvage possibilities were, they marched onward and towards a bridge further north that would put them within throwing distance of Covenant.</p><p>            Tucker Memorial Bridge was the only hiccup in their plan. MacCready had meant to use it as a shortcut, rather than having him and Nora pass through Cambridge, only to find the once relatively safe bridge filled with explosives.</p><p>            “Someone really wanted travellers through here to have a bad day,” MacCready said, making a ‘tsking’ noise with his tongue in disappointment before taking his rifle off of his back and finding a spot to lay in the grass.</p><p>            “What’re you doing?” Nora questioned. “Shouldn’t we cross the river or double-back around?”</p><p>            “Nah, I’ve got this,” MacCready chuckled, aiming very carefully. “Stay behind me, though”.</p><p>            After a moment of intense focus, MacCready fired a single shot from his .50 caliber rifle. The bullet found its mark right in the heart of one of the frag mines laid on the bridge, setting the explosive off. The resulting shockwaves triggered a domino effect, setting the whole bridge on fire within seconds.</p><p>            “What’ve you done?!” Nora yelled.</p><p>            “Saved us the need to be careful. Give it a few minutes. There isn’t a whole lot of fuel on that bridge for those fires to keep burning with”.</p><p>            “You probably blew a hole in the road”.</p><p>            “Yeah, a couple,” MacCready chuckled, “but I’d rather tip-toe around holes than bombs. Besides, this way we avoid taking a dip in the radioactive river”.</p><p>            Once the flames died down and the bridge was (somewhat) safe to cross, the duo reached the other side and MacCready pointed to the intact walls of what was clearly a gated neighborhood in the days before the Great War.</p><p>            “Covenant’s just up ahead, boss”. They could both hear the distant rumble of thunder.</p><p>            “We’d better get inside, then, before that catches up to us”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Upon reaching Covenant, both MacCready and Nora were subjected to a strange psychological test at the gate. Swanson, the Covenant gate guard who also functioned as the test administrator, explained that the test was some kind of screening process to keep “undesirables” out of Covenant.</p><p>            Nora wasn’t sure what kind of undesirables Swanson meant. Some questions made sense in a profiling test for a settlement trying to maintain law and order, but others had no apparent point to them. Why would Covenant need to know if she’d prefer to pitch, hit, or catch during a baseball game?</p><p>            “Well, you both pass,” Swanson said apathetically before getting up from his chair to unlock the gate. “Welcome to Covenant”.</p><p>            The settlement was undoubtedly the cleanest that Nora had ever seen. The houses were kept in such good repair that one could scarcely believe there’d been a war to begin with. Other than the lack of full plumbing and electricity, Covenant didn’t seem too far away from a pre-War neighborhood like Sanctuary Hills before the bombs. The only disconcerting thing immediately noticeable was the large concrete wall around the settlement, lined with machine-gun turrets.</p><p>            “I read about prison in a book once,” MacCready muttered. “Didn’t think I’d see something that matched up to it”.</p><p>            “Maybe it’s just a hell of a defense system,” Nora muttered. The settlement seemed nice enough otherwise. There wasn’t a particularly large group of people living within the walls, but Covenant’s admission test half-explained why the population density seemed lower than comparable towns like Bunker Hill. Not long after the duo had gotten their bearings in the town, they were approached by a plump man in a relatively nice-looking suit.</p><p>            “Well hello there, strangers,” he said calmly. He introduced himself as Jacob Orden: the town mayor. “Glad you passed the test. Our town’s always open to good-quality people”.</p><p>            He went on to point out the town general store and the communal bunk-house, meant for non-residents passing through. Unlike Diamond City and Goodneighbor, Covenant had no hotel or inn. Guests stayed for free at the bunkhouse assuming they were allowed into the city in the first place.</p><p>            “This place looks too good to be true,” Nora said, meaning to be complimentary. MacCready agreed with her while maintaining a more sardonic position of his view on the town.</p><p>            “We offer something that Diamond City and Bunker Hill don’t,” Jacob boasted, “comfort and civility. Speaking of which, you might want to get inside before the storm rolls in. Mr. Fitzgerald will bring some spare lanterns and matches your way for the night. Oh, and try to stay clear of Mr. Dan. I’m sorry to say I’ve had some complaints about him from my townspeople”.</p><p>            “What’s so bad about Mr. Dan?” MacCready asked curiously.</p><p>            “He’s a gun-for-hire,” Jacob responded. “Not the most savory line of work, if you ask me”.</p><p>            “Hey, buddy, I’m a gun-for-hire too. Ask the Vault Dweller”.</p><p>            “That’s…uh, different,” Nora hesitated, trying not to burn bridges. Preston <em>had</em> asked her to see if she could convince the town to join the Minutemen while she was passing through, after all. “You’re <em>hired protection</em>. Nothing wrong with that, right?” She smiled quickly at Jacob Orden, who thought for a moment before nodding.</p><p>            “You’re absolutely right. Guns <em>do </em>have their uses. If they didn’t, we wouldn’t need several mounted on the walls. Sorry, friend,” Jacob looked back at MacCready. “I didn’t mean to offend. I just wanted to help you out. Tell you what, I’ll have Deezer bring you both a round of free lemonade. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”</p><p>            The mayor hurried off to what was presumably his own house. With nothing better to do at the moment and a looming thunderstorm closing in, Nora and MacCready walked into the bunkhouse to wait out the rain. They were quickly greeted to an unexpected surprise.</p><p>            <em>“Preston?”</em></p><p>            “Who’s that?” MacCready asked. Preston, who’d been laying in a bunk on the opposite side of the room, rose at the mention of his name and looked at back Nora before smiling.</p><p>            “General! It’s a surprise to see you!” He greeted her with a quick salute before looking over at MacCready.</p><p>            “And…this is?”</p><p>            “MacCready, this is Preston Garvey. I guess you could call him my executive officer of the Minutemen. Preston, this is—”</p><p>            “Robert J. MacCready,” the gun-for-hire smirked, introducing himself. “Contractor for the Minutemen for one month, courtesy of your General”. He noticed Preston raise an eyebrow before adding, “what, the General didn’t tell you?”</p><p>            “The General was just about to,” Nora scoffed. “He was looking for work, so I gave him some. I figure we could use the extra hands. Got a month’s worth, for three-hundred and fifty Caps”.</p><p>            “I’m…not totally sure how I feel about that,” Preston muttered, “but, well, you’re the General”.  </p><p>            “Relax, Preston. I’m not hiring him out as a contract killer. You were saying something about advancing Minutemen territory, yeah? I know I can’t always help with manpower while I’m looking for Shaun, but I can at least buy you provisions and manpower. I <em>am</em> the General”.</p><p>            “Besides,” MacCready said, “I get paid and I might even get to help a couple people instead of putting bullets in their head. Everyone wins”.</p><p>            <em>I wonder what the General sees in him</em>, Preston thought, before feeling a bit of warmth rise to his face and realizing that he was feeling just a tiny bit jealous.</p><p>#</p><p>            Deezer’s lemonade was a strange drink. Packaged in a canister not unlike most collection vessels from a Mr. Handy water purifier, the drink boasted a strange mix of sweetness and tartness. In the days after the bombs, actual lemons were likely either extinct or mutated beyond recognition. She wondered what went into making lemonade without lemons. MacCready suggested urine, on account of the color. Preston diplomatically informed Nora that it was more likely a combination of mutfruit, tarberry, and some unknown type of sweetener.</p><p>            This was Nora’s first actual radstorm in the Commonwealth. The radioactivity still present in the atmosphere combined with the storm to give the outside world a sickly green hue that Nora could see from the window. A built-in Geiger counter on Nora’s Pip-Boy clicked occasionally when lightning struck particularly close to the bunkhouse. While the group waited out the storm, they took the opportunity to chat about things that had happened in each other’s absence.</p><p>            “Covenant already lets Minutemen in the town,” Preston mentioned, adding that they had to pass the test first. “I got in the same night as when I left Diamond City. On the way here, I took a gunshot to the arm. Had to stop in here instead of Starlight for medical attention”.</p><p>            “You look a lot better, I hope,” Nora said concernedly.</p><p>            “Raider?” MacCready asked.</p><p>            “Super-mutant scouting party. Thankfully just a couple of ‘em, and none with those big dogs or carrying mini-nukes”.</p><p>            “Oh, the mini-nuke ones are my favorite,” MacCready chuckled. Preston and Nora gave him a look that almost screamed the words “<em>you can’t be serious</em>”.</p><p>            “Hey, I’m a marksman!” MacCready elaborated. “You know how you can always hear the beeping before they get to you? Find them first, keep a safe distance away, shoot the nuke. If you’re lucky, some of the other mutants will be standing pretty close by”.</p><p>            After a moment, he looked back at Preston. “So, what. You have to run up here?”</p><p>            “No, I killed them all, but they got me with a pipe-gun in the arm. Thankfully just a graze, and I’ve already gotten some antibiotics from the local Doc. The next morning after I made it in, a couple Minutemen were passing through on their way back to Sanctuary. I let Dogmeat go with them. I was gonna head up there in the morning, but then you came along”.</p><p>            Preston took a swig of a can of Deezer’s Lemonade before looking at Nora and MacCready. “So, how was Goodneighbor? Did you get any information about your son?”</p><p>            “How’d you know I had a son?” MacCready asked, before realizing that Preston was talking about Nora.</p><p>            “Well…probably not something I wanna say out loud, but…” she leaned in close to Preston and MacCready, so only they could hear. “We know how Kellogg got in and out of the Institute”.</p><p>            “Wait, what?” MacCready asked, dumbfounded but still having the good sense to whisper. “What exactly are you Minutemen really up to?”</p><p>            “Well, I paid you enough, MacCready. I might as well at least tell you the full story. You heard me tell Preston earlier I’m too busy to be the full-time General of the Minutemen because I’m looking for my son. He was kidnapped. <em>By the Institute</em>”.</p><p>            MacCready sighed. “Well, I’ve heard some crazy origin stories in my day, but yours is certainly a new one. Let’s hear it”. Without hesitation, still whispering, Nora proceeded to tell Robert MacCready everything.</p><p>#</p><p>            When the storm finally passed, the sun had long set. In the odd hours of the night, Nora crept outside and sat on the patio of the bunkhouse, bringing along a canister of drinking water from among the supply that had been left by the general store for the bunkhouse guests. With everything that had been going on, sleep had been difficult. Her insomnia-riddled mind secretly begged for a Nuka-Cola.</p><p>            <em>Guess that’ll have to wait until the store opens up</em>, she thought to herself. Another voice cut through the darkness.</p><p>            “You sure it’s a good idea to keep that merc around?”</p><p>            It was Preston. Taking a moment to sit next to her, he produced a cigarette and a lighter, deciding to take a smoke break. Apparently, he hadn’t been sleeping well either.</p><p>            “Want one, General?”</p><p>            “I don’t smoke, Preston”.</p><p>            “Oh, alright”. There was a moment of silence before he asked, “but seriously…why the merc?”</p><p>            “A lot of things,” Nora confided. “Goodneighbor was a hole. I couldn’t walk ten feet in that city without being spat at, threatened, or hit on. I found a back-room in the bar where I thought I could finally get some peace, but I never expected that I’d get given a sales-pitch from a gun-for-hire in the process”.</p><p>            “Coulda just told him no,” Preston said softly. Nora shook her head.</p><p>            “It was a combination of two things that made me say yes. I was feeling angry and jaded and bitter and I wanted to be nasty to someone, so I ripped him off and suckered him into joining the Minutemen for a month. Made him an offer he couldn’t refuse without telling him what the job was”.</p><p>            “And the second reason?”</p><p>            Nora thought for a moment before shrugging softly. “I mean…one less merc gunning people down in the Commonwealth, right? Maybe he’ll put his skills to better use with us”.</p><p>            “I always liked that about you, General,” Preston chuckled. “Even when you’re at a low point, you still find a way to make the best of it. I dunno if MacCready’s going to live up to what you’re expecting, but I guess that’s his problem”.</p><p>            “We have a bit in common. Dead spouses, and sons we don’t have with us. If I can help you, Preston, so can he. It just might take a little encouragement”.</p><p>            “You gotta give yourself credit, General. You really are one of the good guys”.</p><p>            Nora felt a playful response slip through her lips. MacCready’s sarcasm was rubbing off on her.</p><p>            “Preston…I don’t know how to break this to you, but I’m not a guy”.</p><p>            “Oh!” Preston’s face went crimson. “O-of course. Not that I’ve…specifically been attention or anything. You know what I mean”.</p><p>            He regained his composure. “Seriously though, hear me out for a second. In this world, I’ve seen that even the ‘good’ guys are ultimately just in it for themselves. You’ve earned my respect as a leader and a friend because you’re different than that. Even with your problems, I’ve seen you put yourself in harm’s way with no benefit to yourself, just to help people. Not a lot of people would have gone with me to Lexington, especially with a missing son to worry about. Fewer still would be here, helping me again in Covenant”.</p><p>            “In short, Nora, you should know you’re making a difference. I hope one day your son will get to see it too”.</p><p>            “Thanks, Preston. You should know I get a lot of help, following your example. You need to give yourself some credit as well”.</p><p>            They smiled at each other before looking out over the rest of the settlement. In the morning, they’d have to focus on figuring out how to get Covenant to join their cause.</p><p>            “You know anything about this place? They don’t really seem to <em>want</em> for anything, Preston”.</p><p>            “That’s what I thought too, when I first got here,” Preston explained. “Before you made it into town, one of the passing mercs and I had a talk in private, though. You might have seen him before the storm hit”.</p><p>Preston lowered his voice. “The one with the long hair? Goes by ‘Honest Dan’?”</p><p>            “That’s weird,” Nora whispered. “Mayor Orden advised MacCready and I to stay away from a merc named Dan”.</p><p>            “Apparently, Covenant wants him to stop his contract. He’s here because Bunker Hill asked him to find a missing caravan. Most of the caravan are bodies on the ground not far from here, and Dan’s pretty sure Covenant had something to do with what killed them. I’m not sure if his claims are true, but if they are…this isn’t something the Commonwealth Minutemen can turn an eye to”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Not SAFE</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 18: In which the General is forced to make a difficult decision.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>NOT SAFE</h1><p>
  <em>“We didn’t start the fire/it was always burning/since the world’s been turning/We didn’t start the fire/No we didn’t light it/but we tried to fight it” – Billy Joel “We Didn’t Start The Fire”</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>            In the morning after Preston and Nora’s heart-to-heart, Nora opted to first take a moment to try and flag down the mercenary known as Honest Dan. One of the good things about Dan was that, despite pressure from Covenant, he’d stuck around town intending to investigate his claim. Realizing that Dan was being watched closely by the town, Nora, Preston, and MacCready all agreed that something would have to be done to get information from Dan without tipping off Covenant’s townspeople too much.</p><p>            Nora had started the plan off by heading to the General Store and buying a case of beer. Bringing the case back into the bunkhouse, she left the case in a place where MacCready could easily reach it. The plan would be for herself and Preston to walk around Covenant, talking to the local townspeople and grabbing their attention. They’d engage Covenant’s leadership with the aim of gauging interest in Covenant’s prospective addition to the Minutemen’s sphere of influence. Once they had everyone’s attention, MacCready would corner Dan and get more information on the missing caravan.</p><p>            The Minutemen first stopped at Covenant’s mayoral office, where Mayor Orden and his assistant, Brian Fitzgerald, worked during the daylight hours. Nora nudged Preston’s ribs when no one was looking to point out the presence of an uninhabited high-security jail cell within the Mayor’s office.</p><p>            “What on earth do they need that for?” Preston asked softly, alarmed.</p><p>            They barely had enough time to think about it further before Jacob Orden was ready to greet them.</p><p>            “I apologize!” Jacob beamed, looking at Nora. “Yesterday it hadn’t come to my attention that we were welcoming the General of the Minutemen into our humble town! Brian overheard the two of you catching up in the bunkhouse yesterday when he brought over the free lemonade. I trust the town’s been treating you well?”</p><p>            “The town is wonderful,” Nora said, putting the diplomat’s hat back on. “Honestly, I’ve been impressed with everything. Your people have a really steady setup here. Sanctuary could learn a thing or two from you”.</p><p>            “Well, I’m happy to tell you a few tricks of the trade,” Jacob said flatteringly, offering both Preston and Nora a seat while asking his assistant to get some drinks.</p><p>            “Lemonade? Water? Something with a little kick, maybe?”</p><p>            “I’ll just take some water,” Preston said politely.</p><p>            “I should have bought a Nuka-Cola from the store,” Nora lamented, prompting Brian to offer to fetch one for her. While he’d stepped out to grab one, Nora began to work on Jacob Orden.</p><p>            “So, obviously our secret’s out,” Nora chuckled. “Preston didn’t tell you I was coming because I’m a bit ahead of schedule and his own stop-over here was unexpected. We were talking yesterday, though, and we figured that while we’re both here, we’d discuss the possibility of Covenant flying the Minuteman flag”.</p><p>            “That’s a pretty big decision,” Jacob said earnestly. He looked over at Preston while pouring out a glass of water for the male Minuteman. “A lot of folks don’t put much stock in the Minutemen since the Quincy Massacre. Of course…” his eyes flashed towards Nora, “…we’ve been hearing they’re under new management”.</p><p>            “Well,” Preston said, “the Commonwealth won’t get better until we all work together to make it a better place. From what I’ve seen of Covenant, you’re definitely showcasing your town management skills. We’d be interested in seeing this kind of system applied in other settlements in the Commonwealth”.</p><p>            “I’m very flattered, Mr. Garvey, but I’m not sure I could focus the same attention on other settlements besides Covenant. I’ve put a lot of work into making a home here, and I couldn’t… leave my work behind”.</p><p>            “Besides,” he said hastily, “while I’m genuinely impressed with the work of the new Minutemen, I’m not sure that Covenant is ready to collaborate under a greater authority. We have our own methods of operation here. They suit us well. I’m not sure others in the Commonwealth would be as happy with our means, and I’m sure the people of Covenant would not be easily receptive to change”.</p><p>            “You’re in a pretty unique position, though, Mr. Orden,” Nora interjected. “The <em>new</em> Minutemen are still pretty early into their rebirth. We’re still gathering settlements into the fold and organizing the ultimate structure of what a united Commonwealth will eventually look like. Not to defame other settlements within the Minutemen bounds right now, but most of them are smaller, less established outposts or simple farms. Our biggest asset is currently Sanctuary because it’s a large settlement with lots of room to grow and plenty of new settlers”.</p><p>            “I was reading about the growth of Sanctuary,” Jacob Orden grinned. “We’re lucky enough to get copies of <em>Publick Occurrences</em> floating through Covenant from time to time. The Minutemen have had a lot of good press lately”.</p><p>            “On that note,” Nora explained, “imagine Covenant were to join up with the Minutemen right now. We’ve managed to get a pretty solid hold on the northwest Commonwealth now. We hold Sanctuary, Abernathy Farm, Tenpines Bluff, and Sunshine Tidings. We’ve got a Minutemen garrison and workshop up and running at the Red Rocket Truck Stop near Sanctuary, and we’re on our way to Starlight Drive-In to put the foundations down for a major Minuteman project”.</p><p>            Jacob Orden seemed intrigued. “Go on…”</p><p>            “The Minutemen are hoping to establish a fort and an armaments factory at Starlight Drive-In once we clear out the ghoul infestation there. Once we do that, trade and travel through that area are going to skyrocket. That project is basically our capstone for complete control of the northwest. When we’re done there, we plan to start looking eastward”.</p><p>            “There’s a lot of untapped settlements east of here that are prime Minutemen material,” Preston added. “Once we get those settlements flying our flag, we’re going to be getting the northeast Commonwealth built up to the same level”.</p><p>            “And Covenant sits right in the middle of all those settlements,” Nora finished.</p><p>            “I see…” Jacob added. “Covenant would essentially become your connecting outpost”.</p><p>            “It’s a good idea, no?” Nora asked. “Covenant’s already built-up and well-defended enough to be a fully-operational trade route. When we’ve built up the northern Commonwealth enough in both directions, Covenant’s trading intake could be made to rival Bunker Hill”.</p><p>            “That is a <em>fascinating</em> offer, General,” Jacob chuckled. “I could certainly drink to that. Tell me though, what would that mean for me as the leader of Covenant”.</p><p>            “Uh-oh,” Preston warned.</p><p>            “Mayor Orden,” Nora said disappointedly, “I didn’t expect you to be the kind of man who tried to dip his hand into the honey pot”.</p><p>            “Oh, no! No! I didn’t mean it like that, General…you said your name was Nora? I never caught your surname”.</p><p>            “Mulyer”.</p><p>            “General Mulyer, you misunderstood me. I’m not looking to get a cut of the trading profits. Covenant’s boost in status is my personal reward. What I actually mean is what leadership will look like in Covenant. How strict are the Minutemen planning to be in settlement regulation?”</p><p>            “Oh, I get it,” Nora realized, “you’re asking how much independent autonomy you’d have under the Minutemen”.</p><p>            “Exactly. Don’t be surprised…Covenant’s basically my baby. I consider it my personal duty to put Covenant’s interests first, at heart”.</p><p>            “Well, this is a while off, but we’re eventually hoping to get some form of unified government back to the Commonwealth, even if it’s nominal,” Nora explained. “Under normal circumstances, I’d say you’d have to expect some changes”.</p><p>            She put her best persuasive voice forward, “but…given Covenant’s importance to our prospective work, I’d be willing to give greater considerations to settlements of particular <em>utility</em>”.</p><p>            “Well, I suppose we’ll have much to talk about when the eastern Commonwealth is settled, then,” Jacob nodded.</p><p>            “And not now while we’re doing all the hard work?” Nora asked. “East of here is Taffington Boathouse. We’re going to be back in this area soon to put up fortifications and fix the farmhouse. With a little elbow grease, we’ll be sitting on a very useful water purification facility. The amount of <em>capital</em> that’s going to generate is nothing to scoff at”.</p><p>            She continued, “getting the Boathouse up and running is going to require lots of shipments, though. Right now, I’ve been trying to organize them wherever I can get them from. Of course, contracting caravans in Diamond City and Bunker Hill for shipments gets expensive”.</p><p>            “Let’s imagine, Mr. Orden, that the Minutemen were to suddenly acquire a nearby settlement that had the trading ties and ability to become a local trading hub for us. Let’s assume this settlement was very conveniently located in a position where the Minutemen could route their own shipments of wood and steel and other building materials through to Taffington Boathouse? Let’s also assume after the factory is up and running at Starlight that weapons and armor shipments need to pass through <em>somewhere safe</em> to get to that brave new frontier east of here we’re trying to reclaim for the people?”</p><p>            “In short,” Nora stood up and extended her hand for Jacob Orden to shake, “why wait to take advantage of the huge influx of traffic until after the opportunity? Why not make yourself a major player for the Minutemen now and have all that clout already developed when the CPG comes back into being?”</p><p>            “General Mulyer,” Jacob said, standing up with a huge grin on his face. “Let me get the townsfolk gathered. How could I possibly refuse?”</p><p>#</p><p>            Watching the population of Covenant gather in the main square for a sudden town-hall, MacCready saw his chance to get Honest Dan alone in the bunkhouse. Dan had been brooding off to himself until now, waiting by the gate for fresh faces to appear through Covenant’s gates to interrogate.</p><p>            When Preston Garvey, Jacob Orden, and the General of the damned Minutemen had called a town meeting, Dan had been curious to see what on earth this was about. His careful approach to the meeting was blocked by MacCready, who’d taken advantage of the commotion to confront Dan directly.</p><p>            “Can’t you see I’m busy?” Dan asked MacCready.</p><p>            “Oh don’t worry,” MacCready nodded. “General wants a word”.</p><p>            “On the fucking podium? What are you people really up to?”</p><p>            “No, not the podium, dumbass. The bunkhouse. Follow me and I’ll tell you what the Minutemen really want. It’s got a bit to do with that missing caravan you’re searching for”.</p><p>            When they’d had a moment to escape to the privacy of the bunkhouse, MacCready offered Dan a beer.</p><p>            “So here’s the deal,” MacCready said quietly, “Garvey told us you’re looking for a missing caravan”.</p><p>            “And if that’s true, why isn’t Garvey talking to me about it?”</p><p>            “Look, Dan,” MacCready said perceptively, pointing through the window at the concrete wall and turrets surrounding the settlements. “There aren’t a lot of private places to talk in this place. This is our only free chance”.</p><p>            “…it’s a front,” Dan realized. “The General’s on the podium so we can talk alone, and I bet it’s got something to do with Stockton’s caravan?”</p><p>            “Kinda. The General’s on the podium because the Minutemen want Covenant to join. That part’s apparently true. However, the fact that Covenant might have managed to make a whole caravan disappear doesn’t sit well with the Minutemen. Now, no one in Covenant has said anything to you about it, right?”</p><p>            “Worse,” Dan sighed, taking a drink of the beer. “They adamantly deny that the caravan came through here”.</p><p>            “So do you have any proof?”</p><p>            “Proof?”</p><p>            MacCready rolled his eyes, “yeah, <em>proof</em>, Dan. Proof the caravan came through here”.</p><p>            “The bodies are still just down the road from here,” Dan said. “There’s not many other cities they can pass through where they would have gotten cases of Deezer’s Lemonade”.</p><p>            “That piss-water? Well, you’re right about one thing, Dan. They were definitely here. Still, they could have been hit by raiders or super mutants if they’re all dead outside Covenant. Old Man Stockton’s just gonna have to cut his losses”.</p><p>            “I didn’t find any bodies of the feminine persuasion,” Dan added, “and I’m not looking for the caravan. I’m looking for Stockton’s daughter”.</p><p>            “You sure she couldn’t have just been snatched by whoever hit the caravan <em>after </em>it left Covenant?”</p><p>            “They’re probably all washed away after the rain,” Dan sighed, “but considering that I found blood and footprints leading back to the settlement --- no. On the contrary, whoever snatched her is from here”.</p><p>            “If that were true, there’d be some sign of her though…why would Covenant want to kidnap her just to make her disappear?”</p><p>            “That’s what I thought. But here’s the funny thing; the townspeople whisper to each other when they think no one’s watching. Apparently, Amelia Stockton failed the SAFE test”.</p><p>#</p><p>            When the town meeting was over, MacCready, Preston, and Nora stepped out of Covenant for a bit to compare notes in peace. Waiting until they’d walked far enough away from the town to no longer be within earshot, they took a seat near the lake on the other side of the road from Covenant’s front gate.</p><p>            Just west of them, over the hill on the other side of the lake, was Lexington. The ruins of a decrepit nursing home on the hill provided a bit of twisted scenery. Down the hill, still across the lake from the trio, a man could be seen sitting over a giant drainage pipe that fed water from further up in Lexington to the lake.</p><p>            He was fishing.</p><p>            “That doesn’t make any sense,” Nora said, reviewing the information that MacCready had gathered. “If Amelia failed the SAFE test, why’d she get in?”</p><p>            “How’d she even fail?” MacCready sighed. “I couldn’t make heads or tails of that test”.</p><p>            “Does anyone actually know what the SAFE test is actually meant to accomplish?” Preston asked. “It’s not that hard to tell a traveler from a raider these days. What are they really trying to determine when they test people?”</p><p>            “It’s gotta be important if they supposedly don’t let people in without taking the test,” Nora said.</p><p>            “But why let people into the town if failing the test is a sign you shouldn’t be there?” MacCready said. With no answer between them, they walked up to where the caravan had been attacked, hoping to find an answer.</p><p>            Honest Dan’s account of what he’d found had been truthful. All of the bodies that were scattered amidst the carnage were identifiable as male, even with having been left out to rot for several days. Deezer’s Lemonade canisters were scattered along the road and tucked within the crates strapped to the two fly-encrusted pack Brahmin. There were still vague signs of someone having been dragged back in the direction of Covenant from the struggle, although the rain had washed the details away.</p><p>            Nora’s mind flashed back to the mayor’s office and the jail cell that was hidden within the house before realizing the truth.</p><p>            “The SAFE test…”</p><p>            “What about it, General?”</p><p>            “It’s not a test to keep people out. It’s a test to <em>filter</em> visitors. Passing residents get processed as normal. Failing residents get let in without being told they failed…and then when they’re least expecting it…”</p><p>            “…Covenant makes them disappear,” MacCready finished ominously.</p><p>#</p><p>            “Back again so soon?” Swanson chuckled as he saw the Minutemen return to the gate. “Forget something?”</p><p>            “Actually, yes,” Nora said politely. “We need to sort some details out with the Mayor about Covenant and the Minutemen. Nothing too crazy, there’s just some security concerns that came up”.</p><p>            “Security concerns?” Swanson asked, pointing to the turrets on the wall surrounding the town. “That’s not usually something we worry about. Besides, we have the SAFE test…”</p><p>            “About that SAFE test,” Nora quickly said. “We have some questions about it”.</p><p>            “Look…I really don’t have the details…”</p><p>            “It’s the test that keeps you safe from ‘undesirables’, right? We have a shared goal here, Swanson. Covenant may have their security plan all figured out, but the Minutemen already have six other settlements we’re gonna have to think about”.</p><p>            She came closer to Swanson, trying to put on a more authoritative, military-like air.</p><p>            “Throw me a bone, Swanson. Help me keep the Commonwealth safe. It’s obvious the SAFE test targets certain undesirables psychologically. What kind are we talking about here?”</p><p>            “Look,” Swanson said, hesitating a bit. “W-we’re talking about Institute synths. Yeah, they don’t run up to the gate with guns like mutants and raiders but they still cause all kinds of trouble. You understand that sort of problem, right?”<br/>
            Nora stepped back, satisfied. “See? Institute synths”.</p><p>            She looked back at Preston and MacCready, who both had very different reactions to Swanson’s confession. Preston looked worried, while MacCready was breathing a sigh of relief.</p><p>            “Yeah boss,” MacCready nodded, “I could see why they do the SAFE test now…”</p><p>            “Swanson, you’re a dear,” Nora smiled at him. “Mind if we go inside and talk with the Mayor about this? These kinds of security strategies are something we should have known about ahead of time…”</p><p>            When they were re-admitted back into the city, Nora returned to the Mayor’s office and confronted Jacob Orden.</p><p>            “Oh, General?” Jacob said, surprised. “I wasn’t expecting you back so soon…”</p><p>            “We have a situation,” Nora said, pointing to the door to indicate that she was about to close it. Preston and MacCready had been instructed by her to wait outside.</p><p>            “Is…everything alright, General?”</p><p>            “No. My apologies, but if everything were alright, I wouldn’t be busting into your office rudely. I’m sorry for this”.</p><p>            She shut the door. Jacob Orden was alone.</p><p>            “Does Covenant have a synth problem?”</p><p>            Jacob Orden looked shocked. “A synth problem? No! We’re extremely careful not to admit undesirables into our peaceful settlement”.</p><p>            “How?”</p><p>            “I beg your pardon?”</p><p>            “How do you stop synths from getting in? I’m pretty sure the machine guns on the walls can’t tell the difference”.</p><p>            No answer. Nora took the opportunity to confirm what she already knew.</p><p>            “It’s that SAFE test, isn’t it?”</p><p>            There was a moment of silence before Jacob Orden gave her an answer. “I…I don’t know if the test will ever be perfect, General, but if the test gives us a chance to tell the difference between the synths and real, <em>wholesome</em> people, we have to take it”.</p><p>            “You mean you don’t even know if it works?!” Nora asked in horror.</p><p>            “Our results are becoming more accurate. That much I can promise you. Of course, we need more trials to know for sure if we’re perfecting our method”.</p><p>            He rose up to his feet, putting on the politician voice again, trying his best to persuade Nora of the validity of his work. <em>Funny</em>, Nora thought to herself in that moment, <em>he reminds me of Mayor McDonough</em>.</p><p>            “General, one of the reasons I was so enthusiastic about joining the Minutemen is because an increase of travelers through Covenant means more opportunities to calibrate the test. If we’re going to develop a way to keep the Commonwealth safe from the Institute, we need all the opportunities that we can get. I hope you understand…”</p><p>            Nora looked deep within herself for an answer. Amelia Stockton was still unaccounted for in all of this. It was a fact she couldn’t abide.</p><p>            “Jacob…”</p><p>            “Yes, General?”</p><p>            “I wanna help you. I do --- but I need you to understand that the evidence shows that people have already <em>died </em>because of your test. A caravan of traders was murdered outside of Covenant to secure Amelia Stockton because of her test results. That’s <em>unacceptable</em>”.</p><p>            “It was an accident,” he insisted. “Only the girl failed the test, but we never got a moment to follow up with her. When we tried to catch them out of town…the situation escalated”.</p><p>            “And Stockton’s caravan was wiped out,” Nora deadpanned.</p><p>            “…and Stockton’s caravan was wiped out,” Jacob said solemnly.</p><p>            “Look,” she finally said. “I have no reason to stop you from work that would protect us from the Institute. My own son was taken”.</p><p>            “Really…?” Jacob asked in disbelief. “I’m truly sorry to hear…”</p><p>            “I’m telling you this because I need you to understand that I’m not your enemy. Everywhere I’ve gone in the Commonwealth, I’ve seen and heard nothing but horror stories about the terrible things the Institute does to people. I can understand your interest in doing whatever it takes to stop them, but I can’t allow your methods to cause harm to innocents in the Commonwealth”.</p><p>            “General, believe me, we’re doing all we can to make the SAFE test as accurate as we can. No one here is proud of the margin of error that has marked the early days of the test, but the numbers show that we’re really, truly making the test more accurate. If we can perfect the test, we can make it worth the sacrifices that have had to be made to get it working”.</p><p>            His eyes became more threatening. “I was sincerely hoping that the Commonwealth Minutemen could assist us with getting more data. I didn’t want to stop the test when we agreed to join you. We can’t <em>afford </em>to stop the test, innocent blood on our hands or no”.</p><p>            Nora returned his cold look. “You need to understand, Jacob, that if we allow the test to continue, that this kind of situation cannot happen again”.</p><p>            He seemed surprised. “You’re not going to shut us down?”</p><p>            “I…” Nora hesitated. “I don’t know”.</p><p>            “You’re like me,” Jacob said softly. “A pacifist at heart. I was hoping this wouldn’t result in violence, and perhaps I was mistaken about you. Perhaps there’s a way we can agree to make the sacrifices worth it”.</p><p>            “…perhaps,” Nora nodded. “But that’s up to me to decide”.</p><p>            “What can I do, General, to ease your concerns?”</p><p>            Nora chose her next words carefully. “I can’t judge a test I can’t fully understand. It wouldn’t be right. I can reserve judgment until I know the full mechanics of the test…but I’m going to need you to tell me everything about the test. I need to believe you won’t make this mistake again”.</p><p>            Jacob sighed. “Alright”.</p><p>            “You’ll tell me?”</p><p>            “We need the Minutemen to allow us greater opportunity to roll out the test. I’m not proud of the fact that innocents have had to die. It’s only fair that you gain a greater understanding of how the test works if you really mean to help us”.</p><p>            He pointed to the cell. “When we have a positive result on the SAFE test, we detain the subject at the earliest opportunity and then take them to the Compound for a follow-up examination. This is what we would have done with ‘Amelia Stockton’, peacefully, had we been given the chance to detain her within the town without starting an incident”.</p><p>            “The…Compound?”</p><p>            “We have a secure Compound nearby where we can conduct follow-up testing to determine if the initial positive result was legitimate. I told you, we’re trying to make the test better so that we <em>don’t </em>involve innocent travelers. Part of perfecting our method involves determining if the result determined at the gate is really, truly accurate”.</p><p>            “Okay. So you take them to the Compound for further testing. What happens then?”</p><p>            “I genuinely don’t know, General”.</p><p>            “You’re not lying?”</p><p>            “I swear, I’m not”.</p><p>            “Then tell me where the Compound is”.</p><p>            “I couldn’t possib—” he stopped talking. His hands were tied.</p><p>            “It’s…across the lake. That drainage pipe that feeds the lake? There’s a secret passage hidden in the pipe. It’s been re-fitted as the follow-up testing Compound”.</p><p>            “Then I’ll head there immediately to see if your methods can be salvaged”.</p><p>            “Wait, before you go, let me tell them you’re coming. You can stay while I do that so you know I’m not lying. They have a… …significant security detail”.</p><p>            “Oh god, don’t tell me you’re shooting people if they get too close”.</p><p>            “No, no. Like I said, the tunnel is hidden. But…we couldn’t be too careful”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Before sending off his message via terminal of Nora’s imminent arrival to the Compound, Jacob allowed Nora to review the message as a sign of good faith. Once she’d left the office, she gestured for McCready and Preston to follow her out of town. After they’d cleared the gate and Swanson behind, they heard a voice calling out behind them.</p><p>            “Hey!”</p><p>            It was Honest Dan.</p><p>            “You’re heading out to find Amelia, aren’t you? That Mayor finally let you in on his secret?”</p><p>            “I’m not sure where we’re going…” MacCready mumbled.</p><p>            “You haven’t been really up-front about it yet, General,” Preston added. “What’d the Mayor tell you?”</p><p>            “I’d prefer to be further away from the town before I repeat it. We need to get to the other side of the lake”.</p><p>            “The other side of the lake?” MacCready asked. “Why there?”</p><p>            Nora lowered her voice, instinctively.</p><p>            “Amelia Stockton”.</p><p>            “What’d you learn?” Honest Dan asked. “Look, I’ll give you a cut of the reward money if you tell me. Stockton hired me to find his daughter and I don’t intend to fail this contract”.</p><p>            “Dan, are you aware of the true purpose of the SAFE test?” Nora asked.</p><p>            “They deny people entry if they fail, right?”</p><p>            “No,” Nora corrected him. “We figured it out. The test isn’t meant to keep unwanted visitors out of the town. It’s actually a way of screening for Institute synths”.</p><p>            “Institute synths? So those bastards really think Amelia is one of them?”</p><p>            “Apparently. She failed the test, so they were going to detain her in Covenant and take her to a Compound for testing. Because she was always with the rest of the caravan, they didn’t have a chance to get her alone. According to the Mayor, when they tried to catch up with her out of town, it got ugly”.</p><p>            “General,” Preston said, genuinely horrified, “they killed all those people for one girl?”</p><p>            “But…” MacCready added, “…what if they’re right? What if she really is a synth?”</p><p>            “There is no <em>what if</em>,” Honest Dan scowled. “These folks and their damn paranoia…”</p><p>            “Everyone,” Nora groaned, getting them all back on track, “…look. Here’s the deal. I promised Mayor Orden I’d reserve judgment until I knew the whole story. Once someone fails the SAFE test, they’re taken to a Compound for follow-up testing. Jacob genuinely didn’t seem to know what happened to those people after that. Now, I’m really scared of what we’re gonna find at that Compound, but we need to know the full story before justice can be done”.</p><p>            The three men nodded in agreement.</p><p>            “I’ve been promised that we’ll be allowed safe access to the Compound to make our decision. Once we’re there, we’ll find out what happened to Amelia Stockton and the truth about the SAFE test. After that, we’ll just have to work with what we find. First thing though, the Compound’s entrance is hidden in that drainage pipe across the lake”.</p><p>            “Well, what are we waiting for?” Dan said. “Let’s get to that pipe”.</p><p>            Once they’d found a shallow enough point to cross the lake, they made their way over to the drainage pipe, half submerged in water, and found the hidden door at the end of the tunnel.</p><p>            The entrance to the Compound were a set of dimly lit catwalks and tunnels, once meant for sewer management in the days before the war. A large group of guards were in position, waiting on the arrival of the Minutemen General.</p><p>            “Hold it,” their leader said. “No sudden movements. If I see a weapon drawn, we’ll fire. Just because Jacob vouched for you doesn’t mean I can let you enter the Compound”.</p><p>            “Jacob and I had a deal,” Nora warned, “if Covenant wants any support of the Minutemen, then I need to know how the test works. I won’t send innocents to Covenant to be turned into guinea pigs”.</p><p>            “He mentioned as much…” the guard leader sighed, before adding, “fine. I’ll take you to Dr. Chambers, but this is her project, so what she says goes”.</p><p>            “I have a bad feeling about this…” Preston said, as the group were escorted through the tunnels to Dr. Chamber’s lab.</p><p>            <em>Yeah, so do I, Preston. </em>Nora felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her gut. <em>So do I.</em></p><p>            Halfway through the tunnels, the group came across a drawbridge platform. The catwalks were retracted, leaving a hole in the pathway to Dr. Chambers. A man in a lab coat stood at the controls for the catwalk.</p><p>            “Extend the platform,” the guard leader said. The unnamed scientist looked at him in disbelief.</p><p>            “We weren’t expecting anyone, Manny,” he said, looking back at the group of obvious outsiders who were being brought through the lab.</p><p>            “They showed up on our doorstep. Orden told us they were coming, remember? What was I supposed to do, Dr. Blythe?”</p><p>            “I know what Orden said. I don’t care. This goes wrong, Manny, and it’s on your head”. Without another word, Dr. Blythe pushed a button on the control panel, and the catwalks extended to complete the pathway. In the room up ahead, Manny introduced the group to a woman in a lab coat who was none other than Dr. Chambers. The lab reeked of chemicals and blood. Unnoticed by Manny, MacCready very carefully put one hand into his duster, reaching for a concealed pistol.</p><p>            “So the ones investigating Stockton’s missing caravan have arrived,” Dr. Chambers said emotionlessly. Her voice absolutely dripped of bitterness and hatred. “Do you even know that his supposed daughter is in all likelihood a synth? No matter. Let me be up front about this. There are two ways this meeting can end. We can come to an agreement, or there’s violence”.</p><p>            “I’m not here because I want to be,” Nora said, a steely seriousness in her voice.</p><p>            “I know perfectly well why you’re here, <em>General</em>,” Dr. Chambers said, adding a grunt at the end. “Now, how do you plan for this meeting to go?”</p><p>            “I’d prefer peace, Doctor”.</p><p>            “As would I. Let me pose a question for you. What would you do if your family was destroyed by a synth, right in front of you?”</p><p>            “You don’t need to ask me that question. I’ve lost loved ones to the Institute too,” Nora nodded. Dr. Chamber’s voice rose an octave in excitement.</p><p>            “Ah, so you have the means to understand the delicate reasons of our work! Now, would you roll over and just accept it, or would you do something about it?”</p><p>            “Dr. Chambers, I’ve been there. I really, honestly have…but I haven’t resorted to kidnapping!” Nora waved her hand to gesture at the bloodied gurneys and pools of red liquid on the floor. “…or to torture!”</p><p>            “Casualties are inevitable,” Dr. Chambers said stoically, her voice brimming with determination and conviction. “It may not look like it, but we’re at war. As long as the Institute walks among us, they can strike without warning and control us from the shadows”.</p><p>            “General,” Preston advised, “this woman’s a fanatic…”</p><p>            “She might be on to something though…” MacCready murmured, although he looked unsure.</p><p>            Nora thought for a moment before looking back at Dr. Chambers.</p><p>            “Do you have any other questions for me?”</p><p>            “Only one, General,” Dr. Chambers said. “What will you do now?”</p><p>            “That depends on what you tell me next,” Nora said curtly.</p><p>            “Question away”.</p><p>            “How accurate is the SAFE test?”</p><p>            “The test is in its infancy, but through sacrifice and perseverance, our success rate is improving. The margin of error is admittedly high. Four to five false positives per synth…”</p><p>            “<em>Four to five?</em>” Nora recoiled. “That’s a twenty percent success rate at best…”</p><p>            “One day we hope to get it down to one or two false positives per synth…”</p><p>            “That’s still barely fifty percent!” She pointed back at the blood and the gore decorating the room. On one gurney, a body covered with a sheet could be seen.</p><p>“You can’t tell me that your test is just a psychological one. If that were true, why do you have so much blood everywhere?”</p><p>            “Intense psychological pressure has to be maintained on those that test positive to calibrate their results and the test…” Dr. Chambers said matter-of-factly. There wasn’t a hint of remorse in her voice. Preston and Honest Dan were both fuming. MacCready remained silent.</p><p>            “And of course, there are the autopsies…”</p><p>            “<em>Autopsies?</em>” Honest Dan barked, almost laughing with fury.</p><p>            “At this point in time, the test isn’t perfected. Humans and synths are indistinguishable while living, down to the cellular level. The only known difference is the implanted chip that lies in a synth’s cranium, embedded near the basal ganglia of the brain. This chip allows the Institute to control the synth and embed psychological programming. Obviously, only synths have one --- but it’s not the kind of thing that is detectable without an autopsy. It also doesn’t show up with conventional X-Ray technology. Before the war, there used to be these tests called CAT scans, but that science is lost to us now. A cranial examination is the only sure way to tell”.</p><p>            “So…” Nora surmised “…after you’ve conducted follow-up tests and you’re sure they’re a synth, you kill them and crack their skulls open to check for the chip”.</p><p>            “And then we compare our findings to the answers the subject gave on the test,” Dr. Chambers added, “allowing us to calibrate our questions and methods for increased accuracy”.</p><p>            “And when you’re sure they’re <em>not</em> a synth?” Nora asked, barely holding back her disgust.</p><p>            “Well, General, as I said, the test is in its infancy”. Dr. Chambers calmly walked over to the covered body on the gurney and pulled the sheet down from over the corpse’s head. The skull-cap was missing, neatly cut off with a bonesaw. Dr. Chambers pulled half of the already bisected brain from the corpse’s cranium and produced a magnifying glass to show Nora the macabre findings of her examination. Within the middle of the brain section, Nora could see a small, shiny plastic-looking object: the proof of the corpse’s synthhood.</p><p>“There are a lot of people who wouldn’t understand the necessary good this test produces because of the volume of sacrifices that have been necessary to achieve this level of development. Strictly speaking, we aren’t at a point where we could allow such loose ends to endanger the plan…but I’m going to give you four a chance to prove your discretion”.</p><p>“The mercenary that came with you will be repaid double the sum he was promised for Amelia Stockton’s safe return, in exchange for his silence. From Orden’s correspondence, it seems he’s already agreed to fly the Minutemen flag for you in exchange for your co-operation with our methods”.</p><p>            “I’ve had my fill of crazy on this contract,” Honest Dan spat. “No deal”.</p><p>            “I wasn’t talking to you,” Dr. Chambers said coolly. “Though if you want your bounty money, I suggest you go along with what the General says”.</p><p>            “You side with this nutjob,” Dan warned Nora, “and we’re going to have a serious, deadly problem”.</p><p>            Strangely, Preston and MacCready were silent. Nora turned around to look at them for counsel only to see that both of them were visibly disgusted but waiting for her input. Suddenly, the title of <em>General</em> felt heavier than before. If she declined the deal, she was likely throwing away a huge advantage for the Commonwealth Minutemen.</p><p>            <em>How many will die if you say yes?</em> There he was again: Nate’s voice echoed in her head, ever her moral guardian angel. She wondered if she were starting to go crazy.</p><p>            The few seconds that it took to make her decision felt like an eternity. She felt her heartbeat pounding in her ears as she struggled to voice her decision.</p><p>            “I…”</p><p>            The words finally came.</p><p>            “…won’t accept”.</p><p>            The three men behind her all grinned. Manny, who had been waiting for this moment, pulled out his gun and aimed for Nora’s chest. MacCready was faster, wiping his concealed pistol from his coat and putting one round right between Manny’s eyes. The other guards stationed beyond the entrance to Dr. Chamber’s lab heard the shot. There was a wave of chaos behind Nora as Preston, MacCready, and Honest Dan all rushed out of the room to dispatch the rest of the guards managing the Compound. Nora and Dr. Chambers were alone in the lab as the battle ensued, staring at each other, trapped at an impasse.</p><p>            “Well?” Nora asked the doctor.</p><p>            “You’ve already laid waste to my life’s work in the name of your misguided morals. We both agreed you’d pass judgment, and though I hoped the outcome would be different, you made your choice. I’m too proud of my work to abandon it and too old to stop you from what you’ll have to do next”.</p><p>            Tired, Dr. Chamber sat in a nearby chair and took her welding goggles off for Nora to get a good look at her face. “As long as I exist, the SAFE test lives. Since you’ve judged that it shouldn’t, you’ll just have to take responsibility for a world where it’s no longer a concept. Of course, that means you’re just going to have to kill me”.</p><p>            As terrible as Dr. Chambers had been, Nora wasn’t sure if she could do it. It was one thing to gun down raiders and super mutants who were actively shooting bullets at her. It was another to look an unarmed woman in the face and pull the trigger, no matter what kind of monster she had become. In another lifetime, Dr. Chambers would have been committed or locked away for the good of decent society.</p><p>She expected Nate’s voice to echo in her head again, reminding her that there would always be a better way to handle these kinds of situations. Surely, somewhere in her slowly decaying mind, her dead husband would surely convince her that the best thing to do was spare the old, broken woman.</p><p>Nate was silent.</p><p>Nora fired two rounds into the doctor’s skull.</p><p>#</p><p>            Once the Compound had been cleared of guards, Nora walked to the jail cells in the back of Dr. Chamber’s lab. Only one cell had an inhabitant: a frightened young woman with dark hair and welts all across her face.</p><p>            “It’s okay,” Nora whispered, “I’m not going to hurt you”. She put on the most motherly voice she could for an extremely frightened Amelia Stockton.</p><p>            “T-the men…” Amelia whimpered. “They come and drag me out…always with the needles and the questions, a-and the pain! I’m not a synth!”</p><p>            “Sshh…” Nora hushed her. “I’m not here for that. Your father is looking for you”.</p><p>            “My father?” Amelia suddenly clamored to the front of her cell. “He’ll reward you! Let me out! Please!”</p><p>            “Relax, relax,” Nora said carefully. Once she’d managed to calm Amelia down, she added, “Amelia, do you know where they put the key?”</p><p>            “I…I don’t”.</p><p>            “I need you to let go of the door so I can break the lock with a bobby pin. You’ll be out in just a sec”.</p><p>            A couple of broken bobby pins later, the door opened. Amelia Stockton, dressed in tattered rags, rushed to the outside and hugged Nora.</p><p>            “Thank you so much!” She sobbed. “Thank you…thank you!” As Nora helped Amelia down to the end of the room, she heard the shooting stop. Preston and the others met up with the two women at the opposite end of the catwalk from Dr. Chamber’s lab.</p><p>            “Well, another day, another job well done,” Honest Dan grinned. “I owe you folks a drink some time”.</p><p>            “And half the money when Stockton pays you out,” MacCready reminded him. “Fuck, I should just go with you to be sure we get paid”.</p><p>            “You have other obligations,” Preston reminded him. “Unless you wanna give us a refund”.</p><p>            “I’d probably stand to make money!” MacCready retorted, before Nora intervened.</p><p>            “Preston and I aren’t really in it for the money,” Nora explained.</p><p>            “I mean, the Minutemen are always happy for the support,” Preston laughed, “but we’re not mercenaries. You don’t have to pay us”.</p><p>            Before MacCready could interject again, Nora added, “<em>MacCready</em>, however, isn’t a full-time Minuteman. He’s more of a contractor. I won’t hold it against him if he gets a cut”.</p><p>            “Fine, more for us, MacCready,” Honest Dan said, before counting out four-hundred Caps and handing them to the other hired gun. While he counted, Nora took time to explain to Amelia that Honest Dan would be the one responsible for returning her home to Bunker Hill.</p><p>            Covenant still needed to be dealt with.</p><p>#</p><p>            Addressing the Covenant problem was a much more difficult task for Nora from an emotional standpoint. Once the trio of Minutemen had managed to get around the lake and back on the road leading to Covenant’s door, MacCready’s sniper rifle and sharpshooting skills made quick work of Covenant’s defenses. As the group reached the front door, Preston’s rifle put a stop to Swanson’s attempt to retaliate against the Minutemen for what they’d done at the Compound. Even as the door swung open and Covenant’s populace aimed at the trio, guns in hand, it already clear which side would be victorious. None of Covenant’s civilians, with the exception of Brian Fitzgerald, were armed with anything more than pipe pistols.</p><p>            “Why’d you do it?” Jacob Orden demanded. “I thought we had a deal, General”.</p><p>            “We did,” Nora said flatly. “The doctor at the Compound wouldn’t see reason”.</p><p>            “Do you realize what you’ve done?!” Jacob barked in a rage. “Years of sacrifice and fine-tuning, wasted! Those results will take years, possibly decades to reproduce! All those people that died for the sake of the SAFE test, General --- your actions have ensured we can never repay their sacrifice!”</p><p>            “She was never going to stop,” Nora tried to explain. “If the rest killed hundreds just to find one synth, she wouldn’t have cared. Why didn’t you?”</p><p>            “I did,” Jacob explained. “I even trusted you to curb the death toll. It’s clear my trust was misplaced. Before we open fire, let me ask you one simple question, General. What did you think you’d accomplish, coming back here to try and lecture us now?”</p><p>            “It’s too late for lectures,” Nora said, more forlorn than anything else, preparing for what she hoped was the last round of gunfire of the day.</p><p>#</p><p>            The only remaining sign of what had once been Covenant was the lemonade-vending Mr. Handy, Deezer, who remained oblivious to the entire conflict that had just happened, floating around and advertising lemonade to residents who no longer lived in Covenant.</p><p>            It took the rest of the day for Preston, MacCready, and Nora to dig a deep hole in the backyard of one of the houses in Covenant and then drag each body into the grave to cover the hole back up. Nora wasn’t sure what she found most distasteful about the whole thing: the fact that the Commonwealth Minutemen had just been forced to massacre a town’s worth of fanatics, or the fact that not one human being in the town had been willing to change their mind, even at the bitter end. There were one or two visitors who’d been in town who weren’t present in the town by the time that the group had returned to Covenant. Whether they’d left due to sheer dumb luck, been forcibly ejected in the wake of what was happening across the lake, or left intentionally knowing that something was wrong --- only time would tell, if anyone told at all.</p><p>            They spent the night in the bunkhouse again, alone, with the main gate to Covenant locked up tight, with Preston and Nora sleeping in shifts. When the early morning arrived, the plan that they agreed on was for Preston and Nora to head out to the Drumlin Diner and call in the Minutemen forces that Preston had commanded to wait near Starlight Drive-In on standby. The expectation was that they’d be done clearing Starlight Drive-In by noon, leaving enough time before sundown for a detachment of Minutemen to travel to Covenant and provide MacCready with reinforcements.</p><p>            “Once they get here and relieve you, you can get some rest and then head up to Starlight Drive-In and join us,” Nora told MacCready. “I’ll tell them to call you Robert so you know you can trust them”.</p><p>“Got it boss,” MacCready said. “Anything else I should know in the meanwhile?”</p><p>            “If they don’t get here by tomorrow night, lock the gate and head up to us anyway, just to be safe. We can always get the town back. You, not so much,” Nora advised.</p><p>            “Oh,” MacCready said, not used to someone prioritizing his welfare over the job, “…got it boss”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Risen From The Ashes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 19: In which Nora tackles concerns at Starlight Drive-In</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>RISEN FROM THE ASHES</h1><p>
  <em>“Maybe the season/the colors change in the valley skies/Oh God I’ve sealed my fate/running through hell/heaven can wait” – Foo Fighters “Long Road to Ruin”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            Crossing at a shallow part of the lake outside Covenant again, Preston and Nora found themselves on the far side of Lexington, within view of the burnt out Corvega Assembly Plant. Some of the damage they’d left was definitely still visible. Looking out at the building with the scope on Preston’s laser musket, Nora could still see scorch marks towards the top of the building, around where she and everyone else had escaped from the flaming building. The raiders who once patrolled the towers around the outside of the building where nowhere to be seen. Travelling west on the outskirts of city, Preston and Nora ran into a small group of raiders who had likely splintered off from Corvega after the fire.</p><p>            It was strange how much less the raiders seemed to scare her now. After Kellogg, the outside world was synonymous with danger and strife to Nora. Even though her co-operation with the Minutemen was meant to change that, the fact that the Commonwealth Minutemen were even <em>needed</em> for such a task told Nora all she needed to know about the dangers that the post-War Commonwealth still housed. The Minutemen had only sliced out one small chunk of a very large pie.</p><p>            Sure enough, a few hours later, Drumlin Diner came into view. One detachment of Minutemen were camped out on the parking lot of the diner that Trudy and Patrick called home. Wolfgang and Simone had long since left Drumlin, supposedly travelling further south to find more wealthy clientele. A Ham radio had been set up within the diner. After Nora’s arrival, the leader of the Drumlin detachment --- a man named Hayes --- called in the attack on Starlight Drive-In.</p><p>            A pack of ghouls had taken up residence around the main building that housed the concession stand and projector. With Preston, Nora, and two squads of four Minutemen each, the pack of ghouls was quickly dispatched with outrageous accuracy. The mission appeared to be over almost as soon as it began. As Nora stood on the grounds of the parking lot, thinking about what to do next, the ground began to shake.</p><p>            <em>Earthquake?</em></p><p>            “Mole rats!” Someone screamed. Nora felt the ground give way under her left foot just in time to step back and avoid the emergence of a giant naked mole rat from underground. Two centuries of radiation and mutations had enlarged the humble mole rat as much as it had the cockroach. Nora remembered disliking the naked mole rat that a younger cousin had kept as a pet in her youth. <em>This</em> version of the mole rat was somehow far less preferable.</p><p>            “How many of them are there?” Nora yelled.</p><p>            “Fuck…could be ten! Could be more!” A random Minuteman responded.</p><p>            It had been fortunate that there was a decent amount of Minutemen running around. The mole rats seemed to emerge in pairs or trios at most, being shot down by the Minutemen forces as soon as they broke the surface. When it was all said and done, the Minutemen counted up several dead ghouls and twelve mole rats to zero Minutemen casualties.</p><p>            “Alright people,” Preston said, calling the Minutemen to attention. “This is a big victory for us, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do”. Suddenly, he opened the floor to Nora.</p><p>            <em>Alright General Mulyer,</em> she told herself, <em>you can do this.</em></p><p>            “Taking the theater is the first step forward in uniting the Commonwealth and getting the Minutemen back on track,” she announced. She was slowly settling into the public-speaking role of being the General of the Minutemen.</p><p>            “Now, we’ll have to begin construction of the armament factory and fortifications of this settlement. Preston’s already told me that there’s groups on standby near Concord and Sanctuary. Squad Hayes, return to Drumlin Diner and call them in, and then report here for guard duty. Squad Peters, your orders are to head east of here to Covenant and take command of the settlement. Radio to this location once you’ve achieved this and give the command to our contact in Covenant to report to his next assignment”.</p><p>            Taking a moment to privately tell Peters that MacCready was expecting the Minutemen to call him ‘Robert’ once they arrived, Nora decided to be up front and also inform him of the events that had caused Covenant to fall into Minutemen hands. She expected disgust and anger by the part of the Minutemen to hear that she’d allowed the settlement’s original population to be wiped out.</p><p>            “You did a good job, General, taking those monsters off the map”.</p><p>            The next few hours were spent waiting on MacCready and the shipments from Sanctuary and Concord. Squad Hayes had returned from the diner relatively quickly. Not long after Hayes and his men returned, a radio transmission from Covenant confirmed that Squad Peters had taken control of the town and would begin rebuilding its turrets. MacCready would rest for a bit and then make his way to Starlight Drive-In. As the sun began to set, the first crates of scrap material reached the theater, accompanied by Sturges and a few other technically-inclined settlers who’d made their way to the Minutemen.</p><p>            “Well I’ll be,” Sturges chuckled. His words were marked with his characteristic southern twang. “You’ve been busy since we last saw you”.</p><p>            “It’s good to see you too, Sturges,” Nora smiled. “With you around, I’m sure we’ll have this settlement up and running in no time”.</p><p>            “That’s the plan,” Sturges chuckled. “Plus I brought those extra parts for Codsworth”. Nora could see Preston suddenly rushing over, trying too late to stop Sturges from opening up a painful wound for Nora.</p><p>            Her face fell. Sturges cocked an eyebrow.</p><p>            “Something wrong?”</p><p>            “Codsworth…isn’t with us”.</p><p>            “Where’d ya leave him?” Strurges asked cluelessly for a moment, before noticing the look on Preston’s face and realizing what was actually being inferred.</p><p>            “Oh,” he said solemnly, “…I’m sorry General”.</p><p>            “If you don’t mind me asking…where did it happen?”</p><p>            “Fort Hagen,” Nora said softly, shaking away bad memories. “We were confronting the man who took my baby”.</p><p>            “…did you find out what happened to your son, at least?”</p><p>            “I did,” Nora nodded. “We’ll talk about him once we’re all set up here”.</p><p>#</p><p>            The rest of the evening was spent setting up camp in the parking lot of the drive-in theater and unpacking salvage to assemble fencing for the perimeter of the theater’s premises. The settlers who’d accompanied Sturges worked under his direction and Nora’s to put fencing pieces together. By the time the last vestiges of sunlight faded beneath the horizon, a front gate was fully operational, and the fencing was starting to encompass the corners. As Nora went to close the gate doors for the night, she saw MacCready walking down the road, heading her way.</p><p>            “Glad you made it,” Nora chuckled, chaining up the gate once the former Gunner had passed. He could have easily gone around the unfinished walls at this point. Waiting to seal the gate until he’d reached the grounds was a courtesy, rather than anything else.</p><p>            “Well, job’s a job,” MacCready said flatly. He was unusually quiet. Nora dismissed his strange behavior as the result of fatigue, directing him to one of the pitched tents which had been put up for the night.</p><p>            When the next morning arrived, the group were back at it again, setting up more fencing around the perimeter and refurbishing the theater’s projector tower into a workspace. They’d arrived on the 27<sup>th</sup> of November. The fencing was completed on the night of the 29<sup>th</sup>.</p><p>            With the fencing done, the Minutemen took up permanent residence as guards for the up-and-coming factory. On the morning of the 30<sup>th</sup>, a new group of settlers passed through Starlight. They were heading to Sanctuary, looking for a safe place to be re-settled. Nora re-directed them to the road leading to Covenant, knowing they’d be more useful there, and issued the command via Ham radio to prepare Covenant for their arrival. The settlers working at Starlight had begun erecting the foundations of what would become the new Minutemen armament factory with a concrete shipment that had been specifically requested from Sanctuary. The center portion of Starlight’s former parking lot had become a massive pothole, filled with radioactive barrels and contaminated water from long before the Minutemen had reclaimed the settlement. The workers would start on the foundations and walls towards the outer portion of the building, while a runner headed to Diamond City to secure hazmat suits for the rest of the job.</p><p>Some ramshackle shacks were added to the outside of the projector tower as a start on more permanent living space. As the work settled into a steady pace, Sturges took over factory management while Preston and Nora focused their attention on what the Minutemen would do from here.</p><p>“So.” Preston said, pointing to a location northeast of Tenpines Bluff. “Our scouts have located a promising location for another Minuteman outpost. There’s a radio tower that’s currently a small raider outpost at Outpost Zimonja”.</p><p>“I read those reports,” Nora said. Her time helping at Starlight had left her more freedom to go over paperwork and all of the other administrative reports that came with being the General of the Minutemen. “That’s the raider outpost with the guy in power armor, right?”</p><p>“Yeah. Nasty raider boss,” Preston scoweled. “Goes by Boomer”.</p><p>“Seems like a stupid name,” MacCready chuckled.</p><p>“He goes by that because he’s got a Fat Man and a supply of mini-nukes. We’re not sure how he got that name, but the scouts said that it looks like the road leading up to Outpost Zimonja is lined with turrets and guards”.</p><p>“So he lets his guards and turrets pick off anyone coming up the hill,” Nora nodded, “and then if they make it far enough up the hill…”</p><p>“Boom,” MacCready finished. “No more Minutemen”.</p><p>“He’s sitting on a powerful radio tower. We could use it to increase our radio capabilities General. That’s gonna be especially important as we get larger”.</p><p>“Sending men to their deaths against a Fat Man and power armor isn’t how we get a settlement,” Nora sighed. A wave of realization hit her.</p><p>            “How’d the scouts even get close enough to know all this?”</p><p>            “There’s an overpass overlooking the radio tower from the other direction, General”.</p><p>            “So, if we get a missile launcher or a Fat Man of our own, we can just send someone up the overpass, avoid the killing field on the main road, and give Boomer a surprise,” Nora nodded. “How’s our armory looking?”</p><p>            “I’ll contact the runner headed to Diamond City and see if they can stop by the weapon shop”.</p><p>            “Oh, when you do get that Fat Man, boss,” MacCready grinned, “don’t forget about the sharpshooter you hired for a month for the Commonwealth Minutemen”.</p><p>            “We sure that’s a good idea?” Preston scowled. MacCready returned his grimace, clearly taking exception to that question.</p><p>            “Settle down, gentlemen. We don’t even have a Fat Man yet. Preston,” Nora said, moving the conversation along to the next settlement, “what’s this place here outside Cambridge?”</p><p>            “Yes, General…that’s Graygarden. It’s a friendly settlement, run entirely by Mr. Handy robots. We can never have enough farms. Squad Davison already radioed from that settlement today after talking to one of the main robots. Apparently there’s a problem down at the Weston Water Treatment plant. If we can fix the plant, Graygarden will raise the Minutemen flag”.</p><p>            “Why’s the Weston Water Treatment plant sound familiar…?” Nora asked aloud, flashing back to vague memories of the days after Fort Hagen.</p><p>            “Place is full of super mutants,” MacCready elaborated.  “I remember working around that area back when I was with the Gunners”.</p><p>            <em>Oh right. Nick was trying to avoid that plant when he was dragging me down to Vault 81, </em>Nora reminded herself.</p><p>            “One squad of Minutemen isn’t tearing apart a super mutant nest,” Nora sighed. “We’re getting good, but we’re not that good yet…I guess we’ll just have to postpone that operation until further notice and keep that squad patrolling the border by Sunshine and Cambridge”.</p><p>            Preston sighed and nodded, making notes on his map for later reference.</p><p>            “Don’t worry Preston. Once the factory and Covenant are up and running, we’ll start growing a bit more. We can focus on Minutemen recruiting at that point. I’d rather we not spread ourselves too thin right now”.</p><p>            “We have a whole Commonwealth to get to though…” Preston sighed, looking over the rest of his map. So far, their operations encompassed only one tiny chunk of the map.</p><p>            “We can barely keep everyone in communication with each other,” Nora reminded him. “We can’t risk getting too big too fast and ruining it for everyone. We’ll get to the rest of the Commonwealth as soon as we have the means to, I promise”.</p><p>            There was a knock on the door, interrupting Preston from his attempt to protest. Sturges had just walked into the door.</p><p>            “General, you mind if I get a word?” The mechanic asked.</p><p>            “No,” Nora nodded, before looking at Preston, MacCready, and Hayes, who were all gathered around for the Minutemen meeting. “Why don’t you gentlemen take a little break?”</p><p>#</p><p>            “We’re running out of salvage, General,” Sturges said solemnly. “I knew this project was gonna be a scrap-eater as soon as I started putting it all together, but it’s a scrap-eater. We’re going to need some extra salvage”.</p><p>            “We can’t buy anymore?” Nora asked.</p><p>            “We’re running out of Caps too,” Sturges lamented. “It’s gonna be hard to keep the shipments coming in with no money to pay the caravans”.</p><p>            “There’s a couple stores in Sanctuary. We can’t use the income generated from those?”</p><p>            “They’re generating some income, but we’re burning right through it. They’re privately owned shops, not shops that we own. I’ve got enough Caps left in the Minutemen pockets for a couple more shipment, but we need to generate income, fast. Any ideas?”</p><p>            “Fuck…” Nora cursed, “the idea was that the factory would be our income”.</p><p>            “Well, we need income to make the factory to make our income…”</p><p>            “There’s nothing else we can do, Sturges? Sanctuary’s full of unused houses…”</p><p>            “Yeah,” Sturges sighed, “and a lot of that debris got brought here to me for the factory foundation and the settlement walls we just put up”.</p><p>            “Great…” Nora sighed. “Alright, I’ll think of something. I’ll tell Preston to call Squad Davison off of Graygarden for now. Maybe we can pick through some local ruins for usable salvage. It’ll be slow, but it’ll be something”.</p><p>            <em>I thought I was the General, not the President.</em></p><p>            “Hey…boss? You got a second?” Sturges and Nora looked over to see MacCready waiting for them.</p><p>            “What’s the matter, MacCready?” Nora noted that his behavior still seemed …off. Was something bothering him?</p><p>            “The matter? Oh… nothing’s <em>the matter</em>. I couldn’t help but overhear your salvage problem, and I think I know where we can get salvage…”</p><p>            “Really?” Nora grinned, “well don’t hold back. What’s your plan?”</p><p>            “Simple. The Gunners have scrap. We’ll just take some from them”.</p><p>            “Take…?” Nora asked suspiciously. “They’re not raiders, MacCready…”</p><p>            “Er…” Sturges said, “…you could argue that”.</p><p>            “Boss, Gunners are raiders. Not to get too personal, but I got tired of running with them after a while. I’m glad I got out before Quincy happened…”</p><p>            “Quincy?” Nora asked.</p><p>            “Remember when you met us a month ago, General?” Sturges said. “We were fleeing the Quincy massacre. Hell, I used to live there. I had a pretty sweet setup until the Gunners showed up and wiped our town off the map for god-knows-what”.</p><p>            He shot a dirty look at MacCready. “It’s kinda the reason we didn’t trust you, at first”.</p><p>            “Look, Stooges,”</p><p>            “<em>Sturges</em>”.</p><p>            “Sturges. Sorry. If you were at Quincy when the Gunners rolled into town and shot the place up, I get why you wouldn’t like a Gunner or a former Gunner. I’ll tell you this much though, I bailed before Quincy…and I’m sorry for your people”.</p><p>            “I’m a pretty lax guy,” Sturges said, “and I don’t remember seeing you there MacCready, so I’ll just take your word for it. But <em>actual</em> Gunners --- the ones who stuck around with the Gunners knowing what they did in Quincy? Those people can rot in hell”.</p><p>            “Fuck, Sturges, what’d they do to you?”</p><p>            “Ask Jun and Marcy Long what they did to <em>them</em>”.</p><p>            Nora redirected the conversation back to the present situation. “I’m probably going to be leaving Starlight soon. How do you suspect we steal from the Gunners?”</p><p>            “Well,” MacCready said, “you remember those two idiots at the Third Rail, right? Winston and Barnes? They’d been hounding me for months and I figured if I could get enough Caps together, I could pay them off”.</p><p>            “I have several problems with this idea,” Nora said.</p><p>            “Yeah, so do I. For starters, they keep a small army of Gunners around and they’d probably decide to take the Caps and shoot me for good measure. To make things worse, I’m not supposed to be taking jobs in the Commonwealth anymore, and yet here I am pulling mercenary work for the Commonwealth Minutemen. They probably don’t think much of it now, if they even know…but I got to thinking, maybe I should solve this problem before it begins”.</p><p>            “They have a waystation south of your border,” MacCready added, “at the Mass Pike Interchange”.</p><p>            “I don’t like the idea of them being so close,” Sturges muttered.</p><p>            “I didn’t think you did. So then I got to thinking, why not just get rid of them and take the waystation goods for ourselves? You can re-purpose it for the Commonwealth Minutemen, or you could requisition their stuff for Starlight Drive-In. The Gunners already have dues to pay to the Minutemen for Quincy, you need resources, and I need them off my back. I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t trust you. Whaddya say, General?”</p><p>#</p><p>            Squad Davison had met Nora and MacCready just on the outskirts of the Mass Pike Interchange on the night of December 2<sup>nd</sup>, after preparations were made to assault the Gunner outpost. Some better guns and sets of metal armor had been pulled from the slowly growing Minuteman armory in Sanctuary. MacCready had gotten a suppressor for his rifle and shot the guards around the base of the Interchange, freeing up the elevator without the need for a firefight from the elevated section of highway overlooking the area. The cover of darkness allowed the Minutemen to sneak unto the elevator. Nora kept her now also suppressed pistol drawn and ready, in case any extra Gunner suddenly returned to the lift.</p><p>            “Alright now, look,” MacCready said. He’d been asked to take point for the operation, considering this was his idea. “There’s usually about six to eight Gunners on the highway, not including Winston and Barnes”.</p><p>            “Sounds easy, Davison laughed. “That’s one for each of us. Maybe two for you and the General”.</p><p>            “It’s not that simple,” MacCready warned. “They have better armor and better weapons. Now, all their goods are gonna be yours when this is over, but we need to gun them down first. There’s also a suit of power armor up on the interchange. I think it’s a T-51”.</p><p>            Nora’s ears perked up at the mention of a more advanced power armor suit than the still-damaged T-45 in Sanctuary. Sturges had promised to make fixing it his next priority once the factory was up and running, so that Nora could have some modicum of radiation protection when traversing the Glowing Sea. There were concerns that even after repairs, the T-45 wouldn’t be enough protection. Securing a T-51, therefore, would be especially fortuitous.</p><p>            When the band of Minutemen had entered the elevator, MacCready trigged a push-button switch, and the lift began to rise. The Gunners on the overpass had yet to realize that there had been a breach. They’d probably assumed whoever had activated the lift was a Gunner coming up to the main overpass section to report something or grab provisions. When a lift full of Minutemen reached the overpass platform instead, the Gunners guards patrolling near the lift were totally unprepared.</p><p>            A volley of laser fire removed the guards from Minutemen consideration. Unfortunately, not every Minuteman soldier on the squad were equipped with silenced weapons: the Minutemen simply weren’t that well-supplied yet. Worse, the yelling of the downed Gunner guards and the crack of exchanged gunfire made Gunner leadership aware of the attack. Nora could see a formation of six Gunner soldiers assembling quickly and firing upon the attacking Minutemen.</p><p>            “God, I hope there’s a bounty on one of you!” One of the Gunners yelled. A couple of the more experienced soldiers were a bit more difficult to take out, sporting half-assembled sets of military-grade combat armor. The Minutemen were lucky to have MacCready as a sharpshooter, hitting Gunners between the eyes (usually) from a couple hundred yards away with his pistol. A couple of Minutemen, sporting tri-crank or quad-crank laser muskets, were also able to fall back behind MacCready and assist in the sharpshooting efforts.</p><p>            While the Gunner numbers were quickly depleted, it was clear that the Minutemen had only dealt with the grunt forces so far. Less experienced Gunners were relegated to the upmost section of the overpass, and the entry point where the Minutemen had just forced their way in. The <em>real</em> threat were the Gunner leadership (including Winlock and Barnes), stationed at the back of the overpass, who were now becoming engaged in the fray and forming their own defensive line, throwing grenades and rifle fire at a group of long-distance focused Minutemen who weren’t completely confident about closing the distance. To make matters worse, Nora could see the commander of the Gunner team disengaging from his team and heading to an unidentifiable model of power armor stationed behind the Gunner defensive line.</p><p>            “I got it boss!” MacCready yelled out before Nora could do anything, ducking behind a ruined car and switching from pistol to rifle. Somehow, MacCready managed to aim the rifle through the busted car window, finding a clean shot. The rifle recoiled one time as MacCready fired and then grinned.</p><p>            The commander got in the power armor and turned around to start rushing the Minutemen forces and break the line.</p><p>            “Guys!” MacCready said, “take cover!” Nora wasn’t completely sure why he was still smiling. He’d obviously missed, right? How else would the commander be running towards—</p><p>            …and then she saw it. At the back of the power armor frame, where the fusion core necessary to power the frames maneuvering capabilities was housed, the chamber was starting to glow. The Gunner commander must have felt the heat on his back, barely stopping in his tracks and climbing out of the suit before the explosion. The Minutemen had already ducked behind their lines. Shrapnel from the ruined suit and busted core turned the suit into a makeshift grenade, posed right in front of the Gunner firing line due to the commander’s negligence. Nora lamented that the suit was effectively ruined, but realized this meant the end of the troubles they were worried about having at Mass Pike.</p><p>            “<em>Fuck! Assaultron!</em>”</p><p>            She didn’t turn around in time. Nora barely registered the flash of red light as a surprise attack roared out from behind the Minutemen. Most of the Minutemen had jumped out of the way in time, although the two nearest Nora were burnt to a crisp from the Assaultron’s deadly laser. Nora would have made three dead Minutemen, had MacCready not come out of nowhere and pulled her behind another car. The top of the roasted car had been melted clear off, and MacCready had thrown himself on top of Nora to protect her, incurring a nasty burn on his shoulders in the process.</p><p>            “T-the legs…” he told her, before rolling unto his side on the overpass road, incapacitated. “S-shoot the legs”.</p><p>            In fear, Nora rose to her feet and saw the Assaultron’s eye laser dim. It had just finished turning two of her men into red-hot ash piles. The foreboding mechanical visage of the murder-bot ‘s face turned towards her mechanically. A simulated voice echoed calmly as the Assaultron’s sharp hand-blades whirred to life.</p><p>            “You are facing an Assaultron-class combat robot. Death is inevitable”.</p><p>            The robot began running towards her at lightning speeds. With no other choice but to follow MacCready’s advice, Nora aimed her pistol for the Assaultron’s left leg and started firing, backing away in a panic. She had narrowly missed stumbling over the side of the overpass by the time she emptied the rest of her 10mm pistol’s clip into the Assaultron’s knee, noticing that all she’d managed to do was bust open the knee casing. Her hands instinctively went to reload the gun, but in her panic, her reflexes were slowed.</p><p>            She was forced to abandon reloading and jump away, getting sliced across the cheek by the Assaultron’s razor-sharp hands. Moving out of the way to dodge another stabbing attempt by the killer robot, Nora Mulyer felt herself lose her balance and fall back to the floor. The bodies of dead Gunners were surrounding her. Now isolated from the surviving Minutemen, she crawled back desperately and searched her surroundings for something --- <em>anything</em> --- that she could hide behind. The red laser emitter on the Assaultron’s head was beginning to glow with deadly heat.</p><p>            It was a the sound of a very different red laser beam, supercharged by four cranks of Davison’s quad-crank laser musket, that was heard next. The high-capacity shot landed squarely on the Assaultron’s damaged kneecap, blowing the robot’s left leg clean off. The robot staggered and fell off balance just as its own laser beam fired. Since the loss of its leg had toppled it over, the laser missed Nora and instead flew out into the open air. Taking advantage of the situation, Nora rose up and retreated back to the remaining Minutemen, pulling her rifle off of her back as soon as she reached MacCready and firing like a madwoman into the now severely-compromised robot. A volley of shots from the remaining men behind her struck down the Assaultron before it could crawl its way back over to Nora and MacCready.</p><p>            “Are you all right?!” She asked, panicking as she pulled a Stimpak from her supplies and injected MacCready’s shoulder.</p><p>            “Ow…yeah, I’m fine,” MacCready winced, sitting up. His burn was already starting to show signs of healing, thanks to the Stimpak. He’d probably be out of commission for a day or so, but that was more than what could be said for the two dead Minutemen who the Assaultron had caught by surprise.</p><p>            “Fuck,” Nora sighed. “I’m sorry…”</p><p>            “Don’t apologize,” Davison said matter-of-factly. His eyes betrayed all the emotion that his voice was covering up. “They knew what they were getting into. Besides, it’s a successful mission”.</p><p>            “Hopefully we find something worth the trouble,” another Minuteman said. With no other threats to harm them from the relative safety of the now unoccupied overpass, they began searching through the Gunner’s outpost for high-value salvage and other items of worth.</p><p>            The Gunners were not scrappers, but what the spoils of the battle lacked in salvage materials, they made up for in valuables. Nearly everyone who’d survived the attack on Mass Pike Interchange left with better weaponry and armor than they wore when they arrived. There was a large supply of foodstuffs and medicine that could be put to the Minutemen cause. The blown-up power armor set was a hodge-podge of T-45 and T-51 parts, with the T-51 helmet and leg pieces being relatively unscathed from the explosion. There were a few fusion cores, a boatload of ammunition, and in the commander’s private quarters, a chest full of Caps.</p><p>            “Well, you wanted a factory,” MacCready chuckled. “That’ll buy your factory”.</p><p>            “Glad to see it was worth the trouble, General,” Davison nodded. “Plus, a few less Gunners in the world is never a disagreeable thing”.</p><p>            He looked at MacCready before adding, “…present company excluded”.</p><p>            “Yeah, well, I don’t run with the Gunners anymore. The Commonwealth Minutemen are certainly a step in the right direction,” MacCready grinned. “Plus, this should give the Gunners a reason to stay off my back”.</p><p>            “I’m sure they heard you loud and clear,” Nora agreed.</p><p>            “Definitely, boss. For Gunners, it’s always about the bottom line. Losing this waystation is going to cost them big, and they have no way of knowing that I or the Commonwealth Minutemen were involved. Granted, we’re going to need to get rid of the two bodies we have left behind, but it’ll be a while before they can even think about operating in this area again, so that also buys the Minutemen some breathing room”.</p><p>            “Here, here!” Some of the Minutemen cheered.</p><p>            MacCready looked back at Nora. “So I guess I owe you a favor now. You hired me, and yet I’m the one who dragged you all the way out here”.</p><p>            “Well, it’s not like we didn’t get something out of it,” Nora coolly responded. “Besides, you saved my life. I’d say we’re doing just fine”.</p><p>            “I wouldn’t have had to save you if we didn’t come up here, and we came up here at least partially on my account,” MacCready sighed, before adding, “so I tell ya what, I’ll give you the Caps back that you paid me in Goodneighbor. I’ll still run with the Minutemen for the rest of the month, while I’m back on my feet, but now we’re even”.</p><p>            The next couple hours were spent packing up the Minutemen’s findings from ransacking the Interchange, and then disposing of the two fallen Minutemen corpses in a close-by ditch. Burying the two soldiers in a makeshift grave wasn’t the best funeral arrangement, but it would have to do. There was no telling when couriers for the Gunners would report back to Mass Pike Interchange, and all signs of the Minutemen had to be gone when those couriers returned. The trip back to Starlight Drive-In had been depressingly solemn, but the next morning brought new hope ahead as Sturges allocated the Caps to the factory fund and grinned about his remaining needs, at least for now, being met.</p><p>#</p><p>            A small storage shed outside the theater had long ago been stripped of whatever pre-War accoutrements it had once possessed and been converted to a small living quarters by some long ago survivor in the wasteland. Whoever they had been, they had a baby. Nora and MacCready, both with children of their own on their minds, had watched in stark silence as the crib was dismantled and the shack was emptied out. Since it was now completely empty, Nora used it as a changing room to have a certain amount of privacy from the mostly male populace of Starlight.</p><p>            On the evening of the 3rd, she had found some spare clothes and changed out of her Vault Suit. The plan was to wash the dirty suit before her next journey. She’d already brought a ration of water and soap from the supplies at Starlight, planning to climb to the top of the drive-in theater’s projection screen so that she could sit down on the chairs there and wash her suit in peace once she’d changed outfits.</p><p>            MacCready was a bit surprised to see Nora, whom he’d only every seen in a Vault Suit until now, sporting a leather jacket, tattered t-shirt, and a pink scarf and torn, knee-length skirt.</p><p>            “Does Piper call you ‘pink’ when you change, ‘Blue’?” He said jokingly. They hadn’t seen Piper since MacCready and Nora had split ways from Nick and Piper when leaving Goodneighbor.</p><p>            “She’s never seen me wear this,” Nora chuckled, before adding, “though I did go around wearing army fatigues for a bit, while my suit was getting repaired in Diamond City. Piper never called me ‘Green’”.</p><p>            MacCready held out seven strings of fifty-caps each. Nora looked at him in amazement.</p><p>            “As I promised earlier,” he nodded, “we’re even. Though you might have to delay the rest of my month with the Minutemen until the burns heal”.</p><p>            “We’ll count it as sick time,” Nora joked, before saying seriously, “keep the Caps”.</p><p>            “No, I won’t, boss. I always like to keep everything even with people, and I owe you a favor. You’re taking the Caps”.</p><p>            “If you don’t want them for yourself, MacCready, that’s fine, but don’t you have a son? You should keep the money for him”.</p><p>            MacCready seemed defensive. “He’s not here”.</p><p>            “Did…something happen?” Nora recoiled a moment after asking. “I’m sorry MacCready, you don’t have to answer that…”</p><p>            “Oh, no,” he said, still on the defensive. “He’s alive. He’s at our family homestead at the Capital Wasteland. I’ve got people looking after him there. I check in with the caravans from time to time --- the ones that I know that pass through there. He’s…alright”.</p><p>            “The Capital Wasteland,” Nora sighed, “that’s Washington D.C., right? You’re a long way from home”.</p><p>            “Yeah,” MacCready said curtly, “I didn’t bring him. Work is dangerous…”</p><p>            “I guess it would be…”</p><p>            “Hey boss, don’t you have a son. I think you said sometime back his name was…something that starts in an S?”</p><p>            “Shaun”.</p><p>            “Shaun! That’s right…you’re looking for him? So, you don’t know where he is?”</p><p>            “I do,” Nora said solemnly. “The Institute”.</p><p>            “What?!” MacCready seemed horrified. “That’s…oh my god”.</p><p>            “I know he’s alive, MacCready. And I’m not taking about some contrived concept of maternal instinct saying, ‘he’s out there, I just know it’. I have proof. We were in Goodneighbor investigating a lead on why the Institute took him. I don’t know the details, but I know they took him there alive”.</p><p>            “Well…” MacCready said, not knowing what to say, “…that’s all the more reason you should keep the Caps. You’re gonna need every weapon at your disposal if you’re going up with the Institute”.</p><p>            “I’m going to have to find them first,” Nora said. “The trail leads into the Glowing Sea…”</p><p>            “Shit,” MacCready said, understanding why Nora had been so insistent on salvaging the T-51 pieces from the Mass Pike Interchange. “Well…that explains your power armor fix”&gt;</p><p>            “I’m gonna talk to Sturges and see how long it’ll take to get it fixed. There’s a power armor frame and a T-45 set in Sanctuary. We can take the pieces there and see if we can get the suit working. I … I kinda broke it”.</p><p>            “How’d you manage that?”</p><p>            “It…I might have gone up against a Deathclaw?”</p><p>            “You’re chalk full of surprises, boss.</p><p>            “Yeah, well,” Nora said, walking towards the stairs to the projector platform and leading MacCready to follow. “I try”.</p><p>            “Hey, you’re forgetting the Caps!”</p><p>            “Give ‘em to Sturges. Tell him you’re donating to an extra couple of generators”.</p><p>#</p><p>            When she was done scrubbing the stains out of her suit, she unraveled the sopping-wet blue outfit and shook some of the water out from atop the projector platform. She barely noticed the sounds of several footsteps climbing up the steps to join her.</p><p>            “General”. Nora recognized the familiar southern twang, turning around to see Sturges. Preston and MacCready were behind him.</p><p>            “Uh…something the matter?”</p><p>            “Yeah,” Sturges said. “There’s a problem”.</p><p>            “What is it?”</p><p>            “MacCready just gave me three-hundred and fifty Caps. He said he wanted to spot you the labor costs and the parts for fixing the T-45 in Sanctuary and adding those T-51 pieces in. I was just taking a look at them when he came by and dropped the Caps on my desk”.</p><p>            “Oh!” Nora said, surprised. “That was unexpectedly sweet of him…er, why’s that a problem?”</p><p>            “Well, besides the fact that you’re all ignoring that I wouldn’t charge you for the work after everything you’ve done…there’s no replacement torso”.</p><p>            “Yeah, it…got blown up”</p><p>            “He told me. He had to shoot the core to keep you guys from getting in trouble at the Interchange. The core housing was on the back of the torso piece on the frame, so. yeah, I can imagine that torso plate didn’t look usable. Trouble is, neither is the one in Concord. That deathclaw you danced with at Concord ripped half the torso right off of the frame. Even if I were to get enough high-grade metal, I’d have to basically make a new place. It’s easier to find one somewhere else”.</p><p>            “You can’t take the money and put in an order with the caravans for a new one, Sturges?”</p><p>            “I <em>can</em>, but you’re looking at not leaving here until January unless something really special comes along. I figured you’d want to know”.</p><p>            <em>Fuck.</em></p><p>            “Alright,” Nora said composing herself. “Dr. Amari said I could use a hazmat suit”.</p><p>            “That’s not gonna sit well with Preston, General. You’re the best thing to happen to the Commonwealth Minutemen for a while, he said so himself. He’d never stop you from searching for your son, but the Glowing Sea is dangerous for a lot of reasons. The hazmat suit isn’t gonna help you with half of them. Unless you turn into a ghoul, you need power armor”.</p><p>            “Well…” Nora sighed, “guess that means I’m going to Cambridge”.</p><p>            “You really think the Brotherhood of Steel are just gonna give you a suit of power armor?”</p><p>            “I’m sure I can find some way to convince Paladin Dnase to let me buy, or even just <em>borrow</em> one”.</p><p>            “I hear you’re both friends,” Sturges said. “It’s worth a try…but I figured you’d have to resort to that, so I talked to Preston about it first. He wants to talk to you”.</p><p>            Heading down with Sturges, she walked back to the projection tower where Preston and MacCready were already waiting for her.</p><p>            “Brotherhood of Steel, huh?” MacCready grumbled. “You must be some kinda desperate to brush elbows with those guys”.</p><p>            “Are they really that bad, guys?” Nora already knew that Preston disliked the Brotherhood, but she’d never heard MacCready talk about them before.</p><p>            “I’m from the Capital Wasteland,” MacCready reminded her. “The Brotherhood basically run the whole place. You’re…well…”</p><p>            “…too good for them,” Preston said, looking sheepishly away from Nora while trying to sound as though he were just making a factual statement.</p><p>            “They might be the only ones with access to a working set of power armor right now,” Nora reminded them, “and I need to get to the Glowing Sea as soon as possible. I can’t just leave Shaun with those Institute sociopaths”.</p><p>            “We know,” Preston said, while MacCready finished his sentence. “That’s why we’re not stopping you”.</p><p>            “You might be about to step into enemy territory,” Sturges said. “The Brotherhood aren’t always the nicest folks to deal with. We all know you can hold your own, and hopefully your good karma with the Brotherhood makes this easy, but I’m gonna give you a means to keep in contact with us”.</p><p>            He held out an antenna attachment. “This’ll go on your Pip-Boy. You can use it to keep in contact with Preston’s terminal here in Starlight and keep on top of Minutemen reports. That way, even while you’re gone, you’re still here”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. A Fortress In The Sky</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 20: In which Nora finds herself dealing with an organization more advanced than any she has met so far.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>(This was a difficult chapter to write).</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>A FORTRESS IN THE SKY</h1><p>
  <em>“I’m always ready for a war again/go down that road again/it’s all the same”- The Weeknd “Pray For Me”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            Cambridge Police Station was unrecognizable. In just under the span of a month, the arrival of the Brotherhood of Steel within the Commonwealth had led to the police station getting reinforcements, supplies, and much needed manpower. The barricades around the station were reinforced and painted with Brotherhood iconography. The front and back entrances to the police station grounds all had sentries posted to their watchtowers. The addition of several generators had expanded the power grid, which now sported automated turrets and spotlight systems.</p><p>            Several soldiers could be seen making repairs to the grounds. A guard in full T-60 power armor sporting Brotherhood colors stood at attention at the front gate. The familiar faces of Scribe Haylen, Knight Rhys, and Paladin Danse were nowhere to be seen. Nora ensured that her hands were within sight as she approached the front entrance.</p><p>            “Halt!” The power armor clad guard ordered her. It was a male voice she’d never heard before. He had yet to draw his weapon on her, even as two spotlights highlighted the figure in the Vault Suit and full set of combat armor.</p><p>            “This is a Brotherhood of Steel outpost, civilian. Do you have business here?”</p><p>            “I’m Nora Mulyer,” she said calmly. Military checkpoints while she’d visit on base to see Nate before their marriage were a similar kind of strict. It was best to simply comply. “I’m looking for Paladin Danse”.</p><p>            “For what purpose, civilian?”</p><p>            She’d thought about this beforehand. While Danse had his sympathetic moments, it was clear she’d have to make this visit worth his while.</p><p>            “I have information about the Institute”.</p><p>            “The Institute? Alright, no funny business. Stay there until you’re admitted, if you’re telling the truth”. The guard barked orders to a nearby soldier to report Mulyer’s presence to Paladin Danse. A moment later, when the Paladin himself walked out to greet Nora, the rest of the courtyard snapped to attention and saluted him. As usual, he was decked in power armor, sans the helmet.</p><p>            “Well,” he said, maintaining a straight face. “I wasn’t sure I’d see you again, civilian”.</p><p>             She took a couple of steps, slowly, to close the distance between them and offer a handshake (which Danse politely accepted). His face suddenly showed signs of concern.</p><p>             “Why are you walking like that?”</p><p>             “Like what?” She wasn’t sure what he meant.</p><p>             “Your leg. You seem…stiff. You don’t have your Mr. Handy with you either”.</p><p>             “My leg’s healing”. <em>Damn,</em> she thought, <em>I thought the limp healed well enough. He’s perceptive.</em></p><p>             “Healing from?”</p><p>             “Kellogg…and the Institute”.</p><p>             “You weren’t joking,” Danse sighed. “Well, alright. I already know you’re trustworthy. Follow me”.</p><p>            The two of them entered the police station, which had been fully refurbished following the arrival of surplus troops to the station. The ruined office space had been converted into a barracks for the enlisted men. The jail cells had become a brig. Haylen now had a full medical workspace to work out of, and one of the other offices had been converted into officer’s barracks, used by Danse and one or two other high-ranking soldiers on the premises. The soldiers of the Brotherhood made way for Danse and his mysterious visitor from the Commonwealth as he guided her to the police chief’s office, coaxing her to sit on the other end of his desk and he cracked the door. She sat alone for a moment as Danse uncharacteristically exited his power armor before joining her in the room, leaving his office door cracked open behind her.</p><p>            “Alright, so what’s this about the Institute?”</p><p>            “You know how I was looking for that mercenary, Kellogg? The one who took my son? I found him in Fort Hagen and confronted him. He kidnapped my son on the Institute’s orders”.</p><p>            That alone was enough to get Danse’s attention. Nora could see a bit of alarm arising on the Paladin’s face. He said nothing, allowing her to proceed.</p><p>            “After Kellogg told me what he’d done, he wouldn’t let me leave Fort Hagen alive, so I had to kill him. I had to find out where the Institute was, so I followed a lead based on some information I found in Fort Hagen on his effects. Apparently, there’s an escaped Institute scientist somewhere in the Commonwealth who might be able to tell me something about how to get into the Institute”.</p><p>            “A rogue Institute scientist with inside knowledge of the enemy,” Danse said in awe, inhaling a bit as the reality of the situation hit him. His eyes focused on Nora.</p><p>            “Mrs. Mulyer,” he said calmly, “…do you know anything else about this rogue scientist?”</p><p>            “His name is Dr. Brian Virgil. I don’t know exactly where he is, but I do know that he’s somewhere in the Glowing Sea”.</p><p>            “Noted. Now, how’d you verify this information?”</p><p>            “That’s the part you might not believe. Do you want the short version or—”</p><p>            “Every detail. I can clear my schedule”.</p><p>            “The Institute had these cybernetic attachments on Kellogg. They kept his brain fresh long enough for me to take the brain to Goodneighbor. There’s a scientist there who works with memories. She was able to help me get Kellogg’s memories so I could confirm the information about Kellogg giving Shaun to the Institute. That’s how I found out about Dr. Virgil”.</p><p>            “Did you learn anything else about the Institute while you were searching for your son? Where they might be located, for example?”</p><p>            “No…but I did learn that they use teleportation to get in and out of the Institute”.</p><p>            “Teleportation…that explains a bit”.</p><p>            “Like what?” Nora asked Danse.</p><p>            “That’s classified…<em>for now</em>. One other question. Do you still have any hard copy of Kellogg’s memories that you can give to us? Having that kind of inside source would be valuable for the Brotherhood.</p><p>            “No, no hard copies”.</p><p>            “How’s that possible?”<br/>            “I had to take Kellogg’s brain to Goodneighbor for the brain scan and…well, even with the Institute tech slowing its decay, there wasn’t a lot of brain left when I got there”.</p><p>            “Was this information stored on any backup drive anywhere?”</p><p>            “I don’t think so. I don’t understand the science behind it, but I basically had to be <em>fed</em> Kellogg’s memories”.</p><p>            “Fed?”</p><p>            Nora declined to tell Danse of Nick’s involvement. “They put the brain in a machine. They put me in the machine. When they played the memories, I was able to watch what little memories were still intact. The memory loungers at the Memory Den don’t have the ability to ‘save’ memory data, from what I understand, so I’m reporting what I saw while I was literally watching Kellogg’s memoires”.</p><p>            “And you <em>saw</em> the Institute using teleportation?”<br/>            “Clear as day, Danse. There was an Institute agent in some kind of black, covert-ops uniform talking to Kellogg. He took my son from Kellogg when they left Diamond City. They used teleportation to return to the Institute”.</p><p>            “I’ll have to report this information to my superiors before we can proceed any further with the use of your intelligence. If what you’re saying is true, well…it’s going to give us a major advantage in seeking and destroying the Institute”.</p><p>            “<em>Destroy?</em> My son’s in there, Danse”.</p><p>            “A fact I will take into consideration and note to the leaders on the Prydwen, given your prior record of assistance. We can’t call off any attacks because of one missing child…”</p><p>            His eyes softened a bit, perhaps out of sympathy. Nora wasn’t really sure.</p><p>            “…but we <em>can</em> give you any relevant information about him that we find after we follow up on this lead you’ve given us into the Glowing Sea. I believe we can arrange that as part of your compensation, Mrs. Mulyer”.</p><p>            He got up from his chair, towering over her even without the power armor.</p><p>            “That reminds me. Given the gravity of what you’ve just reported, I’m afraid I can’t let you leave the police station until we’ve reported this information?”</p><p>            “What?”</p><p>            “You need to understand,” Danse advised, “it’s a matter of security. If what you’re saying has <em>any</em> credence to it, any at all, then you’ve just become an outrageous liability”.</p><p>            “You don’t trust me?” She was dumbfounded. Danse’s face reflected a pinch of regret as he scaled back his words.</p><p>            “It’s not <em>you</em> that I don’t trust. It’s just the situation. You realize your intelligence changes the entire dynamic of your position outside the Brotherhood of Steel? I was fine with letting you waltz around the Commonwealth on your own business, with god-knows-who, when you didn’t have highly sensitive information about the Brotherhood’s sworn enemy within your knowledge. Nowadays, I’m afraid you know too much. You’ll have to be detained here for your own safety. There’s no other way around it”.</p><p>            “Danse, ‘you know too much’ is usually something I’d expect to be told before you took me out back and shot me”.</p><p>            “I-it’s not like that!” He snapped. “Look, I’m not throwing you in the brig. We’ll clear out the interrogation room and make it a private room for you during your time here, but until Command decides it’s safe for you to be released, you need to stay here”.</p><p>            His eyes narrowed. “Mrs. Mulyer…I’m asking you nicely. Don’t make this difficult”.</p><p>            It was at that moment that she realized that she now possessed a reasonable amount of bargaining power with Danse. Preston and MacCready had made it clear that the Brotherhood were akin to raiders as far as taking what they wanted, but if this were entirely true, Danse’s request for her not to “make this difficult” wouldn’t have sounded like a <em>plea</em>. It was probably true that Danse exercising the authority to detain her forcibly if she didn’t comply meant that his superiors weren’t as generous, <em>but they weren’t in the room.</em></p><p>            “I have conditions”.</p><p>            The glare Danse gave her was priceless: a strange mix of dumbfounded, annoyed, and…angry.</p><p>            <em>Uh-oh. I pissed him off.</em></p><p>            He sighed a moment later and relaxed, rolling his eyes. She realized that perhaps she wasn’t being handcuffed and thrown into the Brotherhood jail cells after all.</p><p>            “Within reason,” he muttered. Deep down, though Nora didn’t realize it at the time, Danse knew he was asking a lot from her.</p><p>            “It’s not anything insane. I need to let the Commonwealth Minutemen know I’m here. I can’t just go missing without a trace”.</p><p>            “Understandable. I can’t allow visitors, but I <em>will</em> allow you to send a transmission to your Minutemen contacts to inform them that you’re safe --- if I can review it first”.</p><p>            “That’s fair, Danse”.</p><p>            “Well,” he mused aloud while heading for the door, “that wasn’t so bad. I was worried you were going to ask me something outlandish”.</p><p>            “Yeah, now all you have to do is pay me for the intel”.</p><p>            Danse opened the door completely and stared back at her with a raised eyebrow. Nora had never asked for payment before.</p><p>            “That depends on what you want. I’ve never known you to operate with typical mercenary flare”.</p><p>            “What I want is very specific, Paladin. Virgil is my only chance to find my son. I don’t have anything to ask of you right now while your superiors make a plan, but whatever you end up doing at the Glowing Sea, I want in”. She expected denial, or some kind of circumvented response as Danse’s attempt to decline her request without an outright no.</p><p>            “…we’ll see what we can arrange, Mulyer”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Besides sending a transmission to the Minutemen about her arrival to Cambridge, Nora’s next two days at Cambridge Police Station were uneventful. Most of the soldiers treated her with distant courtesy. Much of this was a direct result of Paladin Danse holding a debriefing for the troops under his command on the evening of her arrival.</p><p>            “This is Nora Mulyer,” he’d told them. “A couple of you already know her,” he glanced at Knight Rhys and Scribe Haylen, “and several others among you saw her arrive here at the police station. You’re all aware that Cambridge Police Station was held by my reconnaissance team until we were able to contact the Prydwen, and that we were given local assistance to acquire the required materials to make our report to Command possible. That local assistance was Mrs. Mulyer”.</p><p>            “She’s now acquired intelligence involving the Institute that I’ve passed unto Command. Until further battle plans are made, the sensitive nature of her findings requires that she remain in Brotherhood custody as a protected civilian. Command is aware of this arrangement, and Elder Maxson’s orders are our direct justification in keeping her at Cambridge until new orders arrive. In consideration of the assistance she’s offered to the Brotherhood thus far, she’s an asset under our protection. I expect you to treat her as such”.</p><p>            Nora would soon come to find that the status of “protected civilian” basically gave her akin to a pet for the base. While the Brotherhood kept her out of their work affairs, friendlier soldiers on their off-hours would politely converse with her. Most of the questions they had were about the op she’d run with Paladin Danse. A few of them were curious about her status as a Vault Dweller or the fact that she’d not joined the Brotherhood of Steel following her encounter with them (especially since Paladin Danse had offered to personally “sponsor” her). None of the soldiers seemed to consider her status as a parent as a valid reason for her to decline the invitation, although during one conversation in the mess hall, Scribe Haylen filled in some much needed context on the Brotherhood’s stance on admitting children into their ranks.</p><p>            “Wait, you admit children to your ranks?!”</p><p>            “Not as full-fledged soldiers,” Haylen elaborated. “They’re more like trainees. Most squires are children of adult Brotherhood soldiers who were born into the ranks, but occasionally we do pick up the odd kid in the wasteland”.</p><p>            “The Brotherhood used to <em>only</em> admit from within families of its own soldiers,” Knight Rhys added. “They changed that policy a few decades back. My dad joined up before I was born when they started admitting outsiders. My mom was Brotherhood since there first <em>was</em> a Brotherhood”.</p><p>            “Haylen, are you and Danse descended from the Brotherhood too?”</p><p>            “No, just Rhys. Rhys and I met while we were in the Capital Wasteland, and he convinced me to join. Paladin Danse was already a member at that time, but I heard he joined up years ago. If you join when you’re an adult, you typically start off as an Initiate, although you can be brought in on recommendation as an Aspirant or a Knight depending on the circumstances”.</p><p>            “I can’t imagine Top as just a typical wastelander,” Rhys sighed. “Surprises, surprises”.</p><p>            Through conversations like these, Nora wound up learning quite a bit about the Brotherhood. At some point in time, during the Capital Wasteland days, they’d been a bit more concerned with the welfare of the populace, not unlike the Commonwealth Minutemen. A change in leadership had led the Brotherhood to become more internally focused, although they’d still wipe out the occasional super mutant hive while on patrol. There were some in the Brotherhood who <em>did</em> seem to hold up to Preston and MacCready’s description of the Brotherhood being barely any different from the average raider or Gunner. However, not every soldier was as jaded as the worst of them. Haylen seemed downright <em>nice</em>. Danse was firm and business-minded but maintained at least some level of honor in his actions. Rhys, pig-headed as he was, was only that way because the Brotherhood was all he’d ever known.</p><p>            It was possible that perhaps there was hope for the Brotherhood yet, though only time would tell. Stuck at the police station, neither free nor imprisoned, Nora waited in limbo to see how events would unfold.</p><p>#</p><p>            The early morning of December 7<sup>th</sup> found a very sleepy Nora Mulyer being awoken suddenly by someone banging on the door of the room allotted to her. Zipping up her Vault Suit and staggering to the door, she could hear Danse shouting at her.</p><p>            “Mulyer? Mulyer, wake up!”</p><p>            “I’m…” she yawned, “I’m up, I’m up. You don’t usually get me up for your early morning musters. What time is it again?”</p><p>            “Mulyer, I’ve gotten orders from Command. They’ve conditionally agreed to allow you to run the Glowing Sea op”.</p><p>            “Really?!” She was stunned --- this was fantastic news, especially from an organization that previously wouldn’t let her stand in the courtyard for some sun without supervision. She quickly reminded herself of the use of the word “conditionally”.</p><p>            “So, what’s the condition?”</p><p>            “We'll only allow Brotherhood soldiers to go”.</p><p>            He said nothing more. She stared at him for a moment as her slowly awakening mind put the pieces together.</p><p>            “So you’re saying I have to enlist”.</p><p>            “If you want to go to the Glowing Sea. I’m authorized to field promote you immediately to Initiate. If you accept, of course, you’ll also be released from Brotherhood detainment immediately --- as long as you remain in good standing with the Brotherhood”.</p><p>            “What if I say no?”</p><p>            “Then your status as a protected civilian doesn’t change. You remain under our custody, here, until further notice”.</p><p>            “Danse, how long is ‘further notice’, exactly?”</p><p>            “Until the end of the war,” he said bluntly. “I don’t know when that will be, of course. No one does --- but I can guarantee you that after the Institute is dealt with, there’ll be no reason to hold you under our protection”.</p><p>            “So I stay here until you destroy the Institute, or I leave now, but as a Brotherhood Initiate”.</p><p>            “That’s the idea, yes”.</p><p>            She sighed before leaning back on against the wall.</p><p>            “I’m going to need a minute to think about this”. She didn’t expect him to allow her this request, but he actually sympathized.</p><p>            “I had to think about it for a bit too, when I joined,” he nodded. “It’s a big decision, so I understand that you have to make up your mind. I woke you up early precisely because of that”.</p><p><em>            So there had been a reason he’d rushed to break down her door. </em>In his own way, Danse was nice to her. He just had a funny way of showing it.</p><p>            “Why so early?” She looked at the clock on her Pip-Boy. It was five-thirty in the morning.</p><p>            “I got the commands as soon as I woke up. I’m to leave today for the Prydwen to report in with Elder Maxson. The Vertibird leaves at ten hundred hours. Once I’m gone, I probably won’t be back for a couple of weeks, and the ranking officer here will be Knight-Captain Wilson. Now I don’t want to rush you, but only a Paladin or above can promote you to Initiate independently, so if you change your mind after I leave, it’ll take longer to process your enlistment and release you”.</p><p>            Nora had gained a general sense of the Brotherhood of Steel infantry’s hierarchy. There were Initiates and Aspirants, with Aspirants just being Initiates with extra combat training. After that came the Knights, who were basically non-commissioned officers. The Knights had their own sub-rank system: there were Knights, Knight-Sergeants, and Knight-Captains. After all of these came the commissioned ranks of Paladin, Star Paladin, and Elder. Apparently, there were <em>High</em> Elders present outside the Commonwealth, though they were too far removed geographically to be of any immediate relevance. The highest-ranking officer within the Commonwealth forces was Elder Maxson, whose name Nora had heard mentioned during Danse’s address to his subordinates.</p><p>            The Brotherhood also had a hierarchy for their airborne soldiers, known collectively as Lancers, and another hierarchy for support personnel like Scribe Haylen. The children of the Brotherhood were at the lowest rank of Squire, since it was typically impossible to determine until they hit puberty if they would become Initiates in training to become Scribes, Lancers, or Knights. One conversation Nora had with the enlisted men at the police station revealed that an exception was Elder Arthur Maxson, who was descended from the founding family of the Brotherhood itself. As a Maxson, it was clear he’d on the path to Knighthood almost from the start. The death of Maxson’s parents while he was still a child also left young Arthur Maxson as the last of his prestigious bloodline.</p><p>            Danse left Nora alone to consider her decision. Nora’s mind flashed to Nate’s status as a soldier. If he’d survived the events of Vault 111, would he have spurned a return to military life or been a attracted to the idea? Would his decision be different if he had been alone, or if Nora had survived with him? Her hands instinctively ran over the edges of her wedding ring as she fell back into the depths of her mind and tried to listen for his voice again, but she heard nothing from him</p><p>            It dismayed her. Sure, he was dead, but even her own mind playing tricks on her so she could hear his voice was better than nothing at all. Besides Shaun, the memories Nora had of Nate were the only proof he’d ever existed in the Commonwealth anymore. With her mind flashing from Nate to Shaun, Nora realized that she <em>had</em> to get to the Glowing Sea if she were ever going to make things right. No amount of reservations about the Brotherhood and their way of life would change the fact that her son was being held in the Institute for some unknown purpose, and that she was the only one who could change his fate. Hell, the Brotherhood waging a war with the Institute just meant more reasons for Nora to join. As a civilian, she’d be forced to wait on the sidelines while the Brotherhood destroyed the place her son was raised in and turned him into a casualty of war. Danse had mentioned that he’d consider Shaun when dealing with his superiors, but the fact that he could promise nothing was a sign that, at best, this was just an idealistic gesture on the Paladin’s part.</p><p>            An hour or so late, after the morning muster, the Paladin was pleased to find that <em>Initiate </em>Mulyer had accepted his offer. Releasing her from Brotherhood custody, he quickly taught her how to salute, and the meaning of the Brotherhood’s rallying cry: <em>Ad Victoriam. </em>He also ensured that she was given a spare uniform before they left. Under no circumstances was he bringing a new Initiate under his sponsorship before his superiors in a beat-up Vault Suit.</p><p>            “One more thing,” Danse said, looking at Nora sternly as they approached the vertibird that would take them to the Boston Airport.</p><p>            “Yes, Paladin?” She’d have to address him by rank now, consistently. Calling him Danse as a familiar gesture was fine as a civilian, but she wasn’t a civilian anymore.</p><p>            “You should know, I’ve recommended that Elder Maxson give you the rank of Knight”.</p><p>#</p><p>            From above ground, the Commonwealth looked astronomically different. Nora had always known the damage had been bad, but not a single building looked unaffected from the blast for miles around. As the vertibird coasted from northwest to southeast, Nora could see a large grouping of settlements clustered around the beaches north of the Boston Aiport. No doubt, that group were the eventual goal of the Commonwealth Minutemen. She made a note to report to Preston about their presence once things had changed.</p><p>            The Brotherhood had not taken Nora’s Pip-Boy away when she’d fallen into their custody at Cambridge Police Station. In the wasteland, taking a Pip-Boy from a Vault Dweller was akin to taking their entire left arm away. Given Nora’s trustworthiness and the general need for her to have a way to entertain herself, they’d let her keep the device with the understanding that she was playing Red Menace on it in her room during the peak hours of Brotherhood operation (when there were no Brotherhood soldiers to talk to). In reality, Nora had been keeping up with Minutemen reports. Danse had informed her that any transmissions she sent from Cambridge would have to travel through the radio tower on the police station roof, and that he’d be able to get a copy of those transmissions on his terminal and see what she’d been writing. They agreed to keep this fact quiet from the rest of the Brotherhood, so long as Nora didn’t tell the Minutemen anything questionable.</p><p>            Most people within the Brotherhood considered the Minutemen’s activities questionable. “Why would a group of farmers need to arm themselves? They may as well just join up”. Danse, as it turned out, was <em>not </em>of this opinion, actually finding the Minutemen honorable enough to turn a blind eye to Nora’s associations with them. The one time he’d deviated from his agreement to keep things quiet, it was to tell his superior officer that the General of the Minutemen was joining the war effort. Nora was stunned to hear that he’d reported this conflict of interest without so much as a word to her, but Danse re-assured her that the fact that Maxson had allowed Nora to join the Brotherhood anyway was a sign that things would be alright. After all, Elder Maxson was the ranking soldier in the entire Commonwealth.</p><p>            Admittedly, having the Brotherhood on the Minutemen’s side would hurt nothing. Nora had known from the moment the Brotherhood airship soared over Fort Hagen that the Brotherhood had full technological superiority over anything else in the Commonwealth, sans the Institute. The flying zeppelin made the marvels of Diamond City look like something a small child had cobbled together. It was <em>huge</em>, towering over the Boston Airport and being so large that it needed to use a flight control tower as a hitch for its anchor. The floating fortress cast an incredible shadow over the airport grounds, part of which had been flooded by the shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean creeping into its pre-War boundaries in the wake of atomic annihilation. The vertibird soon arrived at one of the dozens of vertibird docking bays built into the Prydwen’s underside, being grabbed and pulled by a mechanical interface that held the docked plane in place on the catwalk, allowing soldiers to board and disembark in safety.</p><p>            “Watch your step on the flight deck,” Danse instructed Nora. “It’s a long way down. My power armor can break the fall, but from this height, I’d still break several bones and whoever I hit walking below”.</p><p>            After climbing down unto the catwalk, Nora saw a man in an officer’s uniform waiting for Danse and his new Initiate. Danse alerted her as to the man’s importance.</p><p>            “That’s Lancer-Captain Kells. He’s the Captain of the Prydwen, the highest-ranking Lancer in the Commonwealth, and Elder Maxson’s executive officer, which means he outranks me. Make him angry and you’ll be scrapping rust of the Prydwen from the outside. Stay close and answer all his questions, understood?”</p><p>            “Yes sir”.</p><p>            “Outstanding”.</p><p>            Once they made it to the Lancer-Captain, Nora and Danse both saluted the man.</p><p>            “Lancer-Captain Kells, sir, permission to come aboard?” Danse asked.</p><p>            “Permission granted, Paladin. Allow me to be the first to congratulate you on a successful mission”. Kells’ was smiling at Danse, but then his eyes glanced over towards Nora. The smile disappeared. “Is this our new recruit?”</p><p>            “Yes sir. I’ve field promoted her to Initiate, and would like to sponsor her entry into our ranks personally”.</p><p>            “Yes,” Kells said with some concern. “We’ve read your reports. You’ll be pleased to know that Elder Maxson has approved your request to allow her entry to the Brotherhood and placed the Initiate under your charge”.</p><p>            “Thank you sir. What are my current orders?”</p><p>            “You’ll remain here on the Prydwen on standby for further orders”.</p><p>            “Very good sir. Ad Victoriam, Captain”.</p><p>            “Ad Victoriam, Paladin”.</p><p>            Danse looked at Nora with a moment’s concern before following his orders and leaving Nora to head inside the Prydwen. Nora knew that what came next would be the typical intimidation reserved for new recruits from ranking officers.</p><p>            “So, you’re the civilian Danse speaks so highly about. You don’t look like a soldier to me”.</p><p>            “Looks can be deceiving, sir,” Nora said respectfully while still trying to stand up for herself.</p><p>            “Yes, Initiate. That’s why I personally scrutinize every new recruit that’s brought under my ship. A soldier is an efficient killing machine, not a relic from the past playing catch-up with the rest of the world. That’s always been my biggest reservation about Vault Dwellers in particular. Now, Paladin Danse speaks very highly of you, and he’s a respected field officer. You might think that kind of endorsement would grant you a great deal of latitude with us, but let me make it clear that we’ve travelled to the Commonwealth with a specific goal in mind. I won’t allow anyone, no matter how important they think their personal goals are, to jeopardize their mission. Is that clear?”</p><p>            In all likelihood, he was talking about Shaun. Nora bit her tongue but begrudgingly said “yes, sir. We’re clear”.</p><p>            “Good. Now, there’s an assembly being held shortly on the Command Deck for new recruits. It’s being held by Elder Maxson, himself. You’ll find the Command deck through the main door, straight ahead past the stairs. When the address is done, Elder Maxson wished to speak with you personally. Don’t be late. Any questions, Initiate?”</p><p>            “None, Captain”.</p><p>            “Very well,” he said, as she saluted her (as she was taught to do before leaving the presence of a commanding officer). “Dismissed”.</p><p>#</p><p>            The command deck was a meeting room at the front of the Prydwen which doubled as an observation deck. From here, the higher-ups of the Brotherhood of Steel could command an arresting view of the entire Commonwealth. The whole of Minutemen territory seemed like a mere speck from this distance and height, but the fact that Nora <em>could</em> see it spoke a lot about the Brotherhood of Steel’s level of power within the Commonwealth.</p><p>            Perhaps it said something about the Minutemen too. A month ago, they were barely a concept.</p><p>            Standing at attention towards the back of the command deck, Nora stood at attention with the rest of the recruits as an intimidating young man engrained typical military brainwashing about the dangers of the Institute and the Brotherhood’s mission to “save” mankind.</p><p>            “Beneath the Commonwealth, there is a cancer,” he said sternly. “Known as the Institute; a malignant growth that needs to be cut out before it reaches the surface. The Institute scientists have created a weapon that transcends the destructive nature of the atom bomb. They call their creation the ‘synth’, a robotic abomination of technology that is free-thinking and masquerades as a human being. The notion that a machine could be granted free will is not only offensive, but incredibly dangerous! And like the atom, if it isn’t harnessed properly, it has the potential to render us extinct as a species. I am not prepared to allow the Institute to continue this line of experimentation! Therefore, the Institute and their ‘synths’ are considered enemies of the Brotherhood of Steel, and should be dealt with swiftly and mercilessly!”</p><p>            At two-hundred and ten years and more of age, Nora felt a bit too old to be susceptible to military brainwashing. Regardless, here she was, doing her best to tune out the more propaganda-filled parts of Elder Maxson’s speech and focus on the important bits. The Institute was dangerous, that much was indisputable. No other group would leave hostile robots on the surface without purpose and kidnap people in the middle of the night for unknown means. If they weren’t dealt with, who only knew what the consequences would be for the rest of the Commonwealth?</p><p>            When the assembly was done, per her orders, she approached Elder Maxson alone. He’d obviously been waiting for her, but she was surprised to see that she was the only one of the recruits to get a private briefing of him.</p><p>            “Initiate Mulyer, Elder,” she said curtly, trying to emulate Nate on military business. “Reporting as ordered”.</p><p>            <em>Remember to salute</em>, her husband’s voice reminded her. Unaware of the voices in her head, Elder Arthur Maxson greeted her with a salute of his own.</p><p>            Nora was surprised to see that he was so <em>young</em>. Despite the grizzled officer demeanor, the unkempt beard, the stress marks on his face and a rather gruesome looking scar on his face, below the right eye. He couldn’t have been any older than twenty-five.</p><p>            “I care about them you know,” Elder Maxson began. “The people of the Commonwealth”.</p><p>            “I thought you were here for war,” Nora stated</p><p>            “The Brotherhood is here to prevent a deadly war by starting one of our own. The difference is, our war won’t reduce civilization to ashes”.</p><p>            <em>We’ll just have to see, Maxson.</em></p><p>            “I hope you’re right, Elder. For all our sakes”.</p><p>            “An understandable position. This isn’t a morals lecture. Paladin Danse’s reports made it clear that you’ve already become a bit familiar with our values and ideals. In fact, he’s the reason I wanted to speak with you personally. He’s given me quite a bit of information about you from his reports. Arc-Jet, a search for a missing son, <em>General of the Minutemen.</em> Is it true that the <em>Institute </em>kidnapped your infant son?”</p><p>            “Yes,” she said quietly. “It’s true”.</p><p>            “Well then, that explains your eagerness to breach the Institute, and your relative lack of hesitation to join up with our cause despite the fact that we’re outsiders to the Commonwealth. We’ve picked up many recruits on our journey to the Commonwealth, as well as during our actual time here, but between Paladin Danse’s high opinion of you and your unique skillset and assets, you appear to be a particularly special case. Therefore, from this moment onward, I’m granting you the rank of Aspirant”.</p><p>            “Thank you, sir”.</p><p>            “You should know that the Paladin recommended you be awarded the rank of Knight. He may have already informed you of this”.</p><p>            “Yes sir, he did. He said that only an Elder could approve that request”.</p><p>            “I plan to approve it, in time. The only reason I haven’t immediately granted you the rank of Knight is because I noticed one critical weakness in your background that we’re going to have to address first. It’s my understanding that you’re from a Vault?”</p><p>            “Vault 111, sir”.</p><p>            “And what was your designated role in your Vault?”</p><p>            “I-I’m sorry?”</p><p>            “Your <em>role</em>, Aspirant”. Despite her inability to answer the question, he seemed unfazed. “A typical residential Vault puts its inhabitants through an aptitude test called the GOAT when a Vault Dweller comes of age. That test determines your role in the Vault: shopkeeper, mechanic, Vault security officer, etc”.</p><p>            “I—” she began. Her hesitation was unnecessary. Maxson had already gotten his answer.</p><p>            “The fact that you can’t answer this question tells me that Vault 111 was an atypical Vault. I’m unsure if you’re aware of this, but Vault-Tec had a reputation of experimentation within their Vaults. Atypical vaults like Vault 111 would have had some kind of focus. What was Vault 111’s focus?”</p><p>            “Cryogenics, sir”.</p><p>            “You were frozen, Aspirant?”</p><p>            “For a long period of time,” Mulyer said, not wanting to fully admit to it. “Hundreds of years. I had no concept of the passage of time. I only found out very recently that my son was taken from his cryo-pod ten years ago”.</p><p>            “Paladin Danse failed to mention that in his report”.</p><p>            “Paladin Danse doesn’t know, sir”.</p><p>            “I see. Am I correct to assume your confinement in the Vault and cryogenic holding period was after the onset of the Great War?”</p><p>            “Yes, sir. It was the same day”. She hesitated for a moment before adding, “sir, I apologize but what does this have to do with a weakness in my background?”</p><p>            “Well, simply put, Aspirant, you have minimal combat experience. I’m <em>aware</em> that you’re capable enough for civilian matters. I would even say, based on Danse’s reports, that you could be made a full-fledged field scribe with very little training. However, the rank of Knight and their expected career path is a role that’s built specifically for ground combat, and the Glowing Sea operation is going to be a role which requires the training that Knights specifically receive. The role of the Initiate rank is to show that you have the skills and discipline required to succeed as a typical Brotherhood soldier of any role. The role of an Aspirant is specifically tailored to train you to be successful as a <em>Knight</em>”.</p><p>            <em>Fair enough answer, </em>Nora thought to herself.</p><p>            “Understood, sir”.</p><p>            “Now, I’m also aware that you’re the General of the re-surging Commonwealth Minutemen. There have been <em>concerns</em> by the Brotherhood regarding the Commonwealth Minutemen, but the intelligence I’ve gathered suggests that it isn’t a matter of high-grade importance. Moreover, I hear you’re still settling into your leadership role. When your training as an Aspirant is complete, we’ll need to discuss the future of the Commonwealth Minutemen. For now, however, we can simply progress with tackling more important matters”.</p><p>            “Your first orders are to head to the mess hall. Paladin Danse has been instructed to wait for you there. He’ll lead you through your orientation of the various departments within the Brotherhood, introduce you to my staff, and go over any other general rules that you’re expected to follow when you’re on Prydwen. That objective will take you the rest of the day. Paladin Danse will provide you with the details. The mess hall is outside. Head up the stairs to the main deck. Once you’re there, head straight down the hallway until you reach the mess hall. Any questions, Aspirant?”</p><p>            “No sir”.</p><p>            “Very well. You’re dismissed”.</p><p>#</p><p>            In the mess hall of the Prydwen, Paladin Danse was still wearing his power armor suit. He was <em>somewhat</em> relaxed, occasionally conversing with off-duty soldiers and holding a small cup of water as his only refreshment while waiting for her.</p><p>            “There you are. I didn’t think Elder Maxson would hold you so long”.</p><p>            “We had a lot to talk about,” Nora responded.</p><p>            “So, how’d it go?”</p><p>            “Well, he made me an Aspirant”.</p><p>            “I was informed. Don’t worry. You’re halfway to Knight on your first official day, soldier. I wouldn’t call that a bad start. Pass your combat training and you’ll be set”.</p><p>            <em>From ‘civilian’ to ‘soldier’.</em> <em>What a difference.</em></p><p>            “Alright”, Danse instructed her. “We’re starting your orientation. I grabbed a can of water for you. We’re going to start at the back of the ship and work our way forward, follow me”. Danse escorted Nora further back into the ship. They started off at the ship’s depot, where the ship’s quartermaster, Proctor Teagan, discussed Brotherhood policy on purchasing supplies. All but the very basic necessities of Brotherhood life had to be <em>bought</em>, rather than issued, from Proctor Teagan. On the bright side, he was constantly on the lookout for goods to resupply himself.</p><p>            The Proctor reeked of alcohol, and made a sarcastic comment about Nora being able to “help” him with the Commonwealth Minutemen on account of her status as General of the Minutemen. Danse intervened and quickly excused himself and Nora from Teagan’s presence.</p><p>            “Sorry Proctor. We’ll have to talk about farms later. You’re the first stop on a full schedule”.</p><p>            Once they were out of Teagan’s earshot, Danse explained to Nora that a Proctor was a very high-ranking Scribe. The scribes were organized into three orders, the Order of the Sword (headed by Proctor Teagan), the Order of the Shield (headed by Proctor Ingram), and the Order of the Quill (headed by Proctor Quinlan). The Sword handled weaponry and supplies. The Shield handled armor and defensive fortifications. The Quill handled the collection of technology and intelligence. Scribe Haylen belonged to the Order of the Quill.</p><p>            “From your initial set of aptitudes, you might have become a Scribe if things weren’t as they were,” Danse added. “Elder Maxson initially stated after reviewing your record that he thought you’d be more suited to the scribes”.</p><p>            “He told me that too,” Nora confirmed. “But I guess he went with making me an Aspirant because I wanted to go to the Glowing Sea”.</p><p>            “Scribes get combat training too, but only for survival purposes, Aspirant. They aren’t frontline combatants like Knights. The Glowing Sea is going to require frontline tactics”.</p><p>            “Besides,” Danse complimented, “you have leadership potential. Maybe one day after years of hard work, you might find yourself being called Paladin Mulyer. You need to be a Knight to become a Paladin”.</p><p>            “Well, it’s nice to know you have such faith in me”.</p><p>            “It’s not faith. You’ve demonstrated you have potential. It’s up to you to make that promotion a reality…but one promotion at a time, huh? We haven’t even gotten you to Knight yet”.</p><p>            Their next stop was the armor bay, where they met Proctor Ingram. The only female within the Brotherhood’s upper echelon, Proctor Ingram was confined to a power armor frame. She’d started her career with the Brotherhood as a Knight, but lost both her legs in a serious incident which had forced her into non-combat work. At the armor bay, Danse and Ingram explained that Nora would be stopping by the armor bay more frequently once she’d become a full-fledged Knight and earned the right to wear power armor. Meanwhile, Paladin Danse exited his power armor frame at Proctor Ingram’s behest.</p><p>            “Paladin, with all due respect, you wear that thing so often, I think the last time it got an actual service workup was before you came to the Commonwealth!”</p><p>            After Ingram, Danse and Nora quickly met with Proctor Quinlan. The head of the Order of the Quill had a slender, non-athletic frame, and spectacles on his face. While Brotherhood soldiers spent their Caps at Proctor Teagan’s depot, they <em>earned</em> Caps bringing old technical documents or volunteering for research patrol assignments to increase the Brotherhood’s library of knowledge.</p><p>            Their next stop after that was for Nora’s medical examination with Knight-Captain Cade.</p><p>            “Aspirant Mulyer, I take it,” the Knight-Captain was surprisingly cordial, smiling at Nora when she saluted him politely. “Elder Maxson informed me of your recent promotion. Congratulations. Now, I’m going to administer your medical exam”.</p><p>            Nora noticed that Danse had yet to vacate the room.</p><p>            “Uh…”</p><p>            Danse cocked an eyebrow, not understanding why Nora seemed confused. Captain Cade <em>did</em> understand, tactfully explaining, “the entry medical exam for the Brotherhood of Steel involves a series of simple medical questions. Your C.O will need to know the answers you give, so I’ve permitted Danse to stay and hear your responses”.</p><p>            “Alright Captain,” Nora said nervously. Being in a doctor’s office after two-hundred years was a confusing feeling.</p><p>            The questions were surprisingly mundane. The Captain mainly wanted to know if she’d been severely irradiated or severely ill with an infectious disease. Nora’s status as a Vault Dweller quickly dispelled any fears for her general health. Cade and Danse were both satisfied.</p><p>            There was an odd question where Cade had asked if Nora had ever engaged in sexual intercourse with anything other than a human being.</p><p>            “That happens often enough for you to have a question about it?!” Nora gasped. The two men in the room stifled chuckles.</p><p>            “Well, as someone who was sealed away in a Vault, I imagine your answer is ‘no’,” Cade admitted, “but…yes, Aspirant. You’d be surprised how many wastelanders answer ‘yes’ to that question. Fortunately, you seem to find that behavior as distasteful as the Brotherhood finds it, so you pass”.</p><p>            “Good. Next question: would you have any problems pulling the trigger on any enemy of the Brotherhood, whether they were human, formerly human, or machine?”</p><p>            <em>It’s a morals question. </em>She searched her head for an acceptable but diplomatic response.</p><p>            “If my life’s in danger, I’ll do what it takes to defend myself”.</p><p>            “That’s an acceptable answer,” Cade agreed, before adding re-assuredly, “and the most common”.</p><p>            Danse gave Nora a slight nod of approval as Cade made a few notes on his clipboard.</p><p>            “Well, good job. You qualify for service, Aspirant. Our next stop will be upstairs, at the enlisted—”</p><p>            “Our exam isn’t over,” the Knight-Captain declared. Paladin Danse cocked an eyebrow.</p><p>            “I’m not sure I understand, Knight-Captain. She answered all the questions about basic service qualifications”.</p><p>            “Paladin, are you aware that your newest subordinate is postpartum? You must be. You mentioned that she had an infant son in one of her reports”.</p><p>            Nora realized what was happening while Danse remained clueless. “I don’t see what that has to do with anything”.</p><p>            <em>Is Danse…really that clueless? </em>Nora wondered to herself.</p><p>            “There are additional screening questions for postpartum women, Paladin”.</p><p>            “Oh, I see. Well then, I’ll wait until you’re done”.</p><p>            “Actually, Paladin, for the Aspirant’s privacy, you’ll need to leave the room”.</p><p>            “Why? Isn’t it policy for a sponsorship for the sponsor to be present for the medical exam questions?”</p><p>            Cade was now showing signs of being as dumbfounded as Nora. Danse gave Nora and Cade an increasingly frustrated scowl before asking, “alright, am I not understanding some part of this situation?”</p><p>            “Knight-Captain!” Nora blurted out, deciding to rip the metaphorical band-aid off. “I’ve been having this swelling after <em>breastfeeding</em>”. She punched the <em>breast</em> part of the last word while giving Danse an angry glare. Knight-Captain Cade stifled an embarrassed laugh as the now-formerly clueless Danse became immediately aware of why he was being asked to leave.</p><p>            “And you want <em>details</em>, right, Captain?” She continued, finding the situation funny. “Are we sure we want to put the Paladin through hearing what twenty-four hours of being in labor will do to—"</p><p>            “Point taken, Aspirant. <em>Leaving.</em> I’ll resign myself to the mess hall. I feel a sudden urge for something alcoholic in nature”.</p><p>            “You seem more comfortable with the tougher questions than he does,” Nora asked the doctor when Danse was gone. “How often do you deal with pregnant soldiers?”</p><p>            “Not as often in war as peacetime, but it happens, both in sanctioned situations and otherwise. We should talk about your recent pregnancy and your family situation, by the way. Elder Maxson told me the basics, but I need to clear up some medical concerns involving the specifics. Not including the time that you were under cryostasis, how many months has it been since you gave birth?”</p><p>            “Not quite six months. Shaun was born on July 21<sup>st</sup>”.</p><p>            “Was he your first pregnancy?”</p><p>            “Yes”.</p><p>            Cade winced, looking at his paperwork. “I usually fail new mothers from Knighthood until at they’re at least a year postpartum. There’s a lot of reasons for that, although most of them are out of consideration for the baby”.</p><p>            “Well, my baby’s the reason I’m enlisting,” Nora nodded.</p><p>            “Indeed. That eases some concerns, but not all of them. Were there any complications? I know you mentioned a difficult labor, but I’m not sure if you were exaggerating to get the Paladin out of the room?”</p><p>            “Less difficult, more long. My contractions would be normal for a while and then just stop. I guess Shaun was indecisive about entering the world”.</p><p>            “In the wasteland, there’s a limited supply of medical treatment, but in cities, within the Brotherhood, and in the world before, there were more medical options available to resolve an extended labor. Were you induced?”</p><p>            “No. It was considered, but Shaun ultimately came out on his own”.</p><p>            “No Cesarean, then?”</p><p>            “No”.</p><p>            “That’s good. Was everything else…<em>healing</em> alright? No pain, no signs of infection? Fevers, soreness, any of that kind of thing?”</p><p>            “My…<em>chest</em> is a bit sore sometimes. Shaun wasn’t old enough to be weaned, though, when they took him from me”.</p><p>            “The prospect of being separated from a child who was that young and that dependent on you must have been deeply concerning, Aspirant. You have my deepest sympathies. Shaun was still young enough to be at the age of exclusively being breastfed when you two were separated. You basically had to stop breastfeeding abruptly, Aspirant. The soreness that you mentioned is understandable, but do you have any redness or lumps on your chest?”</p><p>            “Some redness, doctor”.</p><p>            “Any postpartum depression?”</p><p>            Nora hesitated, “…besides the normal?”</p><p>            “I’m aware that might be a difficult question. I was informed you’d recently lost your husband as well. However, you’re conducting yourself admirably despite it all, so I can grade your mental health as being excellent. Has your period returned yet?”</p><p>            Nora blushed. “No, doctor”.</p><p>            “I was worried about that. For all intents and purposes, your body is still dispositioned for a baby, not for war. Under normal circumstances, you would fail the exam, and I’d recommend your reassignment to a non-combat position. Given the extreme circumstances and your otherwise excellent health, I’ll allow you to pass the medical exam for Knights <em>if </em>I can confirm that you’re not suffering from mastitis. Remove your chest-plate and your shirt, please”.</p><p>He waited a moment, realizing she was a bit uneasy. Cade had asked Maxson for a female scribe to work under him for situations like this, but at the moment it wasn’t considered a highly important request. Thankfully, the examination was quick and business-like, with the doctor glancing for mere moments and touching her chest with two fingers, a couple times in random spots, as if he were inspecting any other condition or injury.</p><p>            “You have <em>minor</em> mastitis. I’m going to want to get a handle on it before you head to the Glowing Sea, but as long as we manage it, I feel comfortable clearing you for Aspirant training. I’m going to prescribe you some antibiotics and ask that you report back to me on the morning of December 10<sup>th</sup> at oh-nine-hundred hours. I’ll inform Paladin Danse to start you training later that day. Don’t hesitate to stop by the infirmary sooner if you get fever or chills, or if you start experiencing severe pain or swelling. I’ll get a scribe working on your prescription, so come back here at two-zero-thirty. That’s a half-hour before lights out in the barracks, in case Danse didn’t tell you. I’ll ensure he gives you the free time”.</p><p>            “You’re not…gonna have to tell him about this, are you?”</p><p>            “Well, he <em>is </em>your CO. I also have to tell Captain Kells and Elder Maxson. I’m only about Paladin Danse, though. Elder Maxson’s capable of understanding the delicacies of this situation, especially in regards to your personal circumstances. We actually talked about your baby at length while the Elder was reviewing your acceptance into the Brotherhood of Steel. As for Captain Kells, it may surprise you to learn that he’s a family man. He has a wife and two children back at the Capital Wasteland. If anything, he’s the <em>most</em> familiar with parenthood and all that comes with it. The Captain may act stern, but of all the things he’s going to grill you on, this situation isn’t one of them”.</p><p>            “Paladin Danse, however,” Captain Cade said nicely, “is…well. He grew up alone in the Capital Wasteland. His only companion before the Brotherhood, at one point, was a male friend who joined the Brotherhood with him. He’s recruited female soldiers into the Brotherhood before --- I’m sure you remember Scribe Haylen --- but none of them had started families. Between that and the fact that I’ve never seen him so much as <em>talk</em> to a woman outside of a situation regarding the Brotherhood, I doubt he has any concept of what you’re going through right now. I’ll be sure to explain your situation to him <em>tactfully</em>”.</p><p>            “I appreciate that, sir”.</p><p>            “Of course. Now, I see no other reason to prevent you from entering service. If there are no other concerns, you are dismissed”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Danse seemed somewhat angry with her once she’d returned to the mess hall to continue her orientation aboard the Prydwen with him. Until this point in time, he’d been a relative chatterbox, going on at length about the various facets of the Brotherhood’s history and organization as he led her through the various sections of the ship. After the incident in the infirmary, his tone was noticeably more muted.</p><p>            “These are the enlisted barracks,” Danse said curtly, leading her up a set of stairs to an open-air section of the Prydwen. There were rows upon rows of beds lined neatly against the left and right sides of the upper section of the flight deck.</p><p>            “The left wing is for men,” he continued, “and the right wing is for women. <em>Normally</em>, I’d accompany you here, inspect your bunk and provisions with you, and file a report to barracks management on your behalf if something were amiss. However, well…”</p><p>            He gestured sheepishly at a woman in a scribe’s uniform who was waiting for them.</p><p>            “Senior Scribe Bolstin has been allocated to fill in for me. You’ll still report to me if something is out of regulation --- say, if your footlocker won’t lock, but she’ll be the one going over policy and expectations for use of the female barracks. I’ll be in the common area right outside if you have anything to report”.</p><p>            Once Danse was gone, Senior Scribe Bolstin took over. “Welcome aboard, Aspirant. I’ll try and make this quick. You’ve been assigned bunk S12. The bed and footlocker are allocated to you for your personal use. I’m sure you’re aware that we expect footlockers to be secured when you’re not using them, and under no circumstances is your bed allowed to be left unkempt. When you get up, you make it sharp. Fraternization of any kind in the enlisted barracks is not allowed, and fraternization in general is not allowed without proper permission from Brotherhood leadership. Of course, in regards to men, they aren’t even allowed on this side, as Paladin Danse made quite clear. Knight-Captain Iliya inspects the women’s barracks every day at -oh-five-hundred hours and seventeen-hundred hours. Leave your station in such a way that it doesn’t upset her, and there won’t be a problem”.</p><p>            “Your footlocker contains your uniforms and your standard issue Brotherhood rifle. We’ll be reviewing the items issued to you to ensure they reach your hands in good repair. After that, secure any personal effects that you might have, and then I’ll show you the official communications terminal, in case you have any transmissions you want to send out to family or close friends you may have in the Commonwealth. We’ve been getting quite a few recruits in from the Commonwealth. Any questions, Aspirant?”</p><p>            “None, ma’am”.</p><p>            “Very well, let’s begin”.</p><p>            The inspection was thorough and without incident. After its completion, however, Nora found herself being met with a very different side of Bolstin’s personality.</p><p>            “<em>Vault-Dweller,</em> huh?” She chuckled. “Very interesting”.</p><p>            “So I’ve been told,” Nora sighed.</p><p>            “I’ve read some intelligence reports by one Paladin Danse about a particularly impressive Vault Dweller”.</p><p>            “Oh really?” Nora asked curiously. “I haven’t”.</p><p>            “A lot of us in the Brotherhood were wondering about who you were, Aspirant. The Paladin’s not so easily impressed. Vault-Dwellers in particular usually aren’t worth the time it takes to train them. It usually takes more than one retrieval operation for him to make his mind up about a recruit, and yet he was ready to put his name on your sponsorship papers right after Arc-Jet. I wonder what makes you so special? You’re awful pretty,” Bolstin said teasingly, “maybe that has something to do with it?”</p><p>            “I’m pretty sure he’s already noticed the wedding ring,” Nora deadpanned. Having rumors float around the Prydwen was <em>not</em> how she wanted to start her tour of duty. Dealing with hazing was another element of military life she was hoping to avoid. She held her left hand up for a very surprised Bolstin to gawk at. By pre-War accounts, it was a plain gold ring with one small diamond embedded into it: not particularly fancy. By today’s standards, it was undoubtedly priceless.</p><p>            “As a matter of fact,” Nora added somewhat smugly, “the Paladin always called me Mrs. Mulyer. Now that I’ve enlisted, he calls me ‘soldier’, but it’s not like he doesn’t know that there’s a Mr. Mulyer”.</p><p>            <em>She doesn’t need to know Nate’s not here.</em></p><p>“Speaking of families,” Nora grinned, before Bolstin could get another word in, “where’s that communication terminal? I’ve got some letters I should write”.</p><p>#</p><p>            The rest of orientation day went by uneventfully. Once she’d left the women’s wing of the barracks, Danse escorted Nora around the recreational areas, research facilities and flight bay. They took a brief excursion down via Vertibird to the ground beneath the floating fortress. The Brotherhood had converted the ruined airport terminal into a functioning attachment to the Prydwen. Ruined airplane fuselages were slowly being scavenged, repurposed, and reintegrated into a burgeoning Brotherhood training ground. Danse informed Nora that she’d have to take the Vertibird down from the Prydwen tomorrow to report for her first day of Aspirant-level combat training. A designated Vertibird shuttle left the Prydwen from flight bay Gamma every thirty minutes.</p><p>            The rest of what remained of the ruined airport on the ground was converted into a massive storage bay, outside fortifications around the airport, and a work area for the scribes to work on engineering projects. A massive gantry was being erected in what had once been a section of runway, though the purpose for this was unclear even to Danse. The Brotherhood had planned to utilize more of the airport’s interior, but survey crews had found that large sections of the building beyond what was already being utilized had collapsed.</p><p>            Far from the occupied areas of the airport, Nora could see a heap of charred corpses beyond the wrecked airplanes. She and the Paladin had wandered off to a relatively empty portion of the field, where the heap was in clearer view.</p><p>            “What’s that?” She asked worriedly.</p><p>            “Enemy forces,” Danse said calmly. “When the Prydwen moored here, the noise attracted a herd of feral ghouls. Thankfully, the Prydwen’s forces were significantly better armed than we were in Cambridge. Apparently, it didn’t take much to mow them down”.</p><p>            “I wonder where all those people had been before the bombs dropped,” Nora sighed. “I bet a bunch of them were just travelers passing through the airport at Boston”.</p><p>            “Psh,” Danse scoffed, “you’re much too soft, soldier. Ghouls are just a byproduct of science run amok. The radiation twisted those humans into monsters long ago. You saw the damage they could do for yourself in Boston. It was only right to put them down”.</p><p>            “You’re not wrong about feral ghouls, Paladin,” Nora advised him. He seemed rather taken aback by the fact that she could regard ghouls so ‘softly’ despite agreeing with him; to him, it had always been a matter of black and white.</p><p>            “They needed to be put out of their misery. After god-knows how many years being stuck in that state, I’d honestly want the same thing. Besides, you’re right Danse: they were a danger to everyone else, beyond saving, and they had to be put down as a result. However, just because I agree with you on all that doesn’t mean I think its <em>their</em> fault it had to end that way”.</p><p>            “You feel sorry for them,” Danse sighed. “It’s admirable that you acknowledge their former humanity…but it’s not the Brotherhood way. Then again, I suppose I could just chalk it up to you being hormonal”.</p><p>            Nora was taken aback. “With all due respect, Paladin, the hell’d you just say to me?”<br/>            Danse maintained a strange air of being both indignant and yet strangely apologetic. “M-maybe that wasn’t the nicest way to put it— but it’s true! I had a quick chat with Knight-Cade while you and Senior Scribe Bolston were in the barracks. I didn’t know about your…situation”.</p><p>            “Knight Captain Cade tells me he’ll explain it to you tactfully and clears me for duty, and yet here you are calling me ‘hormonal’, Paladin. I thought better of you and him than that”.</p><p>            Danse groaned, retracing his steps. “No, it’s not like that. He made it clear that he’d allow you to go down the Knight track anyway based on my recommendations and the circumstances regarding your missing son. Besides, he believes me when I say I think you’ll be a major asset to us --- it’s just…”</p><p>            After a moment’s hesitation, Danse finished, “I think you still have a lot of toughening up to do before we head to the Glowing Sea. I know your son’s involvement probably makes that hard. Honestly, I shouldn’t have asked you to join when you had an infant on the line to consider. I forgot you’re a new mother, and I didn’t realize I was asking someone who might not be capable of the job to—"</p><p>            “All of a sudden, you think I’m not capable? Where is this coming from?!” Nora scoffed. The events of the day had made it clear that Danse was oblivious to anything not concerning the Brotherhood, but this ‘realization’ of his was especially insulting.</p><p>            “Well—” Danse winced, “I…I didn’t take into account that you’d just had a baby. Mulyer, I <em>truly</em> believe that you have the potential to do great things with us here, but Knight-Captain Cade’s medical assessment made me re-thinking forcing you unto the Knight track”.</p><p>            Nora’s eyes narrowed.</p><p>            “Well, scribes don’t go to the Glowing Sea,” she muttered. “I have to go there to find that baby. I’ve done everything you’ve asked so far and joined the Brotherhood without a single objection because <em>you</em> made it very clear that joining the Brotherhood was the only way you were going to let me operate freely in the Commonwealth”.</p><p>            “I didn’t say you couldn’t search for your son without the Brotherhood!”</p><p>            “But you <em>did </em>demand I remain at Cambridge until the Institute was ‘dealt with’. I’m not sure how that’s supposed to be conductive to my search. Also, I’m no expert, but it sounds like the Brotherhood way of dealing with threats is to shoot first and consider the common good second. Quite frankly, I’m not saying you <em>would</em> endanger my son, but I know he’s not your first priority, Danse!”</p><p>            Her voice was raised now. Surprisingly, rather than be outraged himself, Danse appeared to look down at the floor. Whether he was searching for excuses or genuinely realizing where he’d been wrong was yet to be determined. Surely there was some sort of penalty coming for Nora, what with her having had such an outburst directed to her own commanding officer. Still, Danse needed to be put in his place.</p><p>            “I’ve co-operated with everything you’ve asked me to! How could I not? You run around pretending you’re here on some righteous pretense, but in reality you’re holding my son in the balance, whether you realize it or not! Here I am now, having signed my life away to the Brotherhood, and you’re not exactly inspiring my confidence on whether or not I’ll even see my son again for all my life is worth”.</p><p>            She pointed at the ghouls. “Though you’ve never stopped to consider the humanity behind everything you’re doing, huh?” She braced herself for a sharp rebuke. Danse’s face was now a contorted mix of shock and fury.</p><p>            “Well,” a gruff voice said, accompanied by the sound of a single set of hands clapping slowly. “You have some valid questions, Aspirant”.</p><p>            Nora’s eyes widened as she turned to the source of the voice, recognizing who it was. Paladin Danse had already stiffened up and raised a salute, though Nora was too shocked to the same.</p><p>            “Elder Maxson?!”</p><p>            “At ease, Paladin,” the young Elder said stiffly. With one hand, he was holding a lit cigarette.</p><p>            “Sir!” Danse said. “I wasn’t expecting you here. I apologize that you had to hear that outburst. I assume full responsibility, and I’ll assure that the Aspirant and I both make amends for—”</p><p>            “I was wanting some fresh air and solitude, so I came down here,” Maxson explained half-heartedly. He took a puff of his cigarette, and his voice suddenly resumed its more commanding tone.</p><p>            “Paladin”.</p><p>            “Yes sir?”</p><p>            “No reparations are needed from the Aspirant. You and I will address this incident later. It’s undoubtedly been a long road between your reconnaissance mission ending and your return to the Prydwen. Get some rest. You’re dismissed, Danse”.</p><p>            “Sir I…” Danse looked baffled but complied. “V-very well sir. Thank you for the early leave”.</p><p>            After he’d left Arthur Maxson and Nora Mulyer alone on the Brotherhood grounds, Maxson turned back towards Nora.</p><p>            “Allow me to apologize for him, Aspirant. He was being a bit hypocritical”.</p><p>            “He was being a lot of things, but…hypocritical, Elder?”</p><p>            “I heard the whole conversation. It started when you were speaking about the pile of charred corpses laying out in the field? We had to dispose of them quickly a couple weeks back when we came through. Ghoul bodies carry all sorts of risk for contamination, and as you can see from the size of that pile, there were a few hundred of them. I’m sure you must consider us distasteful for not allotting them a proper burial”.</p><p>            “I…” Nora hesitated. She remembered the hasty attempt by herself and Codsworth to burn the bodies of the ghouls in Lexington.</p><p>            “It was the best I could do. Understand, Aspirant? If I just left the bodies in the field to rot, it would have been <em>more</em> distasteful; never mind the fact that we’d be letting a perfectly good plot of land get contaminated with rotting bodies. At the same time, there was work to be done after the Prydwen was moored to the airport. We didn’t have the manhours to dedicate putting together a mass grave. So what was the most efficient and humane solution?”</p><p>            “Burning the bodies,” Nora sighed. “I apologize, Elder, but I don’t see what this has to do with anything”.</p><p>            “Danse was calling you soft,” Arthur explained, “…but acknowledging the humanity behind a situation while still being efficient <em>isn’t</em> being soft. You were right to acknowledge that these feral ghouls were once human, and that it was sad, because it <em>is</em> sad. Acknowledging how far humanity has fallen and what needs to be done on the long road to restoring humanity is one of the core principles of the Brotherhood. On that note, he was wrong…”</p><p>            “…and furthermore,” Maxson continued, “he was revealing some softness in himself while lecturing you on the same. Knight-Captain Cade no doubt had the same discussion about your medical exam with Danse than he did with me, perhaps with the exception of talking to Danse face-to-face. I read my copy of Cade’s report on my terminal in my quarters. Consider our positions, Aspirant. Myself, Cade, Paladin Danse: we’re all responsible for the welfare of the soldiers working under us. Sure, there will always be risk. War is hell. This campaign will be deadly, and many lives will be lost...but what kind of leaders would we be if we didn’t take precautions to ensure our men were prepared? It’s the same reason I’m holding you back from the rank of Knight on the basis of your lack of combat readiness”.</p><p>            “Apparently Paladin Danse doesn’t think I’ll ever be ready. He’s the one who tells me that I need to enlist to leave Cambridge, and yet now here he is—”</p><p>            “Mulyer,” Maxson calmed her. “It was insulting. You reacted accordingly and stood up for yourself on that. Between the fact that it was a breach of decorum and the fact that he was second-guessing his decision to sponsor you --- which a Paladin shouldn’t do --- the fault was his. You’re absolved of fault, Aspirant”.</p><p>            “And yet you must understand,” Elder Maxson continued, “that in his own way, I believe he only did that because he cares about you”.</p><p>            “Oh, it’s because he cares?” Nora scoffed. “He could have fooled me”.</p><p>            “I’ve known Paladin Danse a very long time,” Elder Maxson smirked. “He’s one of my most respected field officers for several reasons. One of them is because he’s genuinely a better man than most. He’s been nothing but selfless and dedicated for the sake of the Brotherhood for all the time that I’ve known him. Of course, the man has faults. He’s…not the most <em>subtle </em>soldier I’ve ever met: encountering social situations that require more finesse is an area of opportunity for him. Simply put, I know what he was meaning to tell you, but he definitely didn’t phrase it appropriately, and you were rightfully offended as a result of his poor handling of the situation”.</p><p>            “So what was he meaning to tell me?” Nora sighed.</p><p>            “Sorry,” Elder Maxson said bluntly.</p><p>            “<em>Sorry?</em>”</p><p>            “When he detained you at Cambridge, he did so for your own protection. Your knowledge of the Institute so far makes you an asset to us. Your understandable motivation to confront them makes you even more of an asset to us. The enemy of our enemy is our friend, especially in warfare. Simply put, we don’t know how long it will be before the Institute inevitably comes to know about you, if they don’t already, and confront you. Let’s be honest, you’re safer under our protection, Brotherhood or civilian. I’m sure you’re aware that his superiors ordered him to enforce your detainment. I’m also sure you’ve figured out that by his superiors, we really mean <em>me</em>”.</p><p>            “Why would you do that?” Nora demanded. “Why would you put me in such an impossible situation?”</p><p>            “Imagine you went to the Institute, or even the Glowing Sea, without our support, looking for the Institute so that you could find your son, Shaun. Would you succeed?”</p><p>            “I’d do something to make sure I did,” Nora retorted.</p><p>            “I’m sure you would, and that’s one of the reasons I like you, Aspirant,” Elder Maxson noted. “But…<em>would you succeed?</em> If so, how? How would you<em> guarantee</em> it?”</p><p>            Nora could not respond.</p><p>            “You couldn’t,” Arthur admitted. “And as capable as I believe you are, <em>I need a guarantee</em>. I’ll be blunt, Aspirant. To ensure this guarantee of your survival, you were <em>coerced</em> by us to join. Leaving the choice in your hands was too dangerous. As a new mother, you have other interests outside of the Brotherhood of Steel. I’m not going to fault you for putting your son’s life first because it’s what any reasonable human mother would do. You can be as angry about it as you want, but you can’t deny that coercing you was the most efficient and humane solution available. With our resources and training, you <em>will</em> get to the Glowing Sea and find this Dr. Virgil. Ensuring that you <em>will</em> get to Virgil alive also increases your chances of being reunited with Shaun. I’m of the opinion that this qualifies as humane, even for the high price that we’re asking of you”.</p><p>            <em>He’s clearly thought this through,</em> Nora mused, admittedly impressed.</p><p>            “So, you’re not of the opinion that Danse sponsoring me was a mistake?”</p><p>            “For both your son’s sake and the Brotherhood’s sake, absolutely not. It was the only viable option to success”.</p><p>            Maxson took one last puff of his cigarette before dropping it to the ground and crushing it under the heel of his boot. “Of course, that doesn’t mean Danse feels good about it. Deep down, I wonder if your case might have pulled his heartstrings a little. Perhaps it caused him to look at you less as a soldier and more as a friend; it’s not like he could use less of those. Perhaps he was even convinced to look at you for a moment solely as young Shaun’s mother, which for him is <em>very</em> difficult to do. However, as you’re painfully aware, Shaun’s not here. If you ever want to see him again, the sad reality is that you’ll need to finish what you started and become an outstanding Knight. Danse may be having a doubtful moment, but I believe his initial response to be correct. You have exactly what it takes, if anything precisely <em>because </em>of the things that would have cast doubt on you otherwise. Don’t disappoint me, Aspirant”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Casus Belli</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 21: In which Nora takes a trip to Fort Strong.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>CASUS BELLI</h1><p>
  <em>“Cruelty to the winner, bishop tells the king his lies/maybe you’re a mourner, maybe you deserve to die” – System of a Down “Soldier Side”</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>Knight-Sergeant Lawson Training Report 122187-47</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>            Aspirant training has progressed with no major incidents. Despite my reservations, I’m pleased to report that almost all of our newest round of Knights-to-be are just about ready for their transition to Knighthood. This has been an especially interesting training group given that for most recruits, our training coincided with the Prydwen’s deployment to the Commonwealth.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>            If it hadn’t been for Aspirant Mulyer’s sudden addition to our training company two weeks ago, this would have been my last training run with Aspirants based solely from the Capital Wasteland. I’m aware that we’ve been picking up several Initiates from the Commonwealth. Some of our Commonwealth-born recruits, namely reformed raiders, reformed Gunners, and out-of-luck mercenaries, already show the skills needed to progress to the rank of Aspirant soon. The idea of having born-and-bred Knights familiar with the Commonwealth on our side for this war is a thrilling prospect.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>            By all accounts, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Aspirant Mulyer when she was suddenly added to Training Company Bravo. The records I was given regarding her background indicate that she’s a Vault Dweller, of all things. She had to be given special dispensation from Knight-Captain Cade to serve as an Aspirant and train for the rank of Knight despite medical concerns regarding her recent pregnancy. On paper, such a recruit simply shouldn’t have what it takes to succeed with this company. I was honestly rehearsing how to report her expected shortcomings to Paladin Danse. I’ve had unfortunate incidents with outside sponsorships in the past: oftentimes, too many recruits who enter the Brotherhood via sponsorship are either too prideful to accept proper training, or simply low-quality material picked up from the wastelands, looking for a handout. This is especially true of recruits allowed to bypass the Initiate rank following their recruitment (like Mulyer). </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>            Let it be said that if Aspirant Mulyer is to be typical of recruits from the Commonwealth, then I say we should have recruited from here years ago. The Aspirant follows all commands to the letter and tackles every challenge with a steel will stronger than what some Knights themselves possess. The minimum amount of time typically taken to raise a new Aspirant to a Knight is six weeks. In a matter of only two, Aspirant Mulyer has driven herself to perform at the same standard of the rest of our Training Company. While there are still some minor inconsistencies (she’s not as physically strong as other trainees in the company), her level of improvement is extraordinary. She’s gone from someone with minimal combat experience to someone who can react quickly in the heat of battle and negotiate a solution to even the most trying of challenges I’ve placed in front of the Training Company. </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>           Elder Maxson had requested that Aspirant Mulyer be trained to attain the Knight rank as quickly as possible. While I will recommend that her medical health be monitored, and that training to improve strength and physical conditioning be continued, I feel ready to consent to her promotion to the rank of Knight. This is simultaneously due to her incredible performance as well as the consideration that once she is elevated to Knighthood, she will earn the right to wear a set of T-60 power armor, which will circumvent her lack of raw strength.</strong>
</p><p>#</p><p>            “Congratulations on your promotion, Knight,” Proctor Ingram chuckled as <em>Knight </em>Mulyer reported to the armor bay. Attaining the rank of Knight had meant that Nora was now considered worthy of utilizing a T-60 set of power armor while out on the field of duty. This made Nora fully qualified to participate in the impending operation to the Glowing Sea.</p><p>            “I’ve been making something <em>special</em> for you,” Proctor Ingram chuckled. The two weeks following Nora’s orientation aboard the Prydwen had seen Nora and Ingram become amicable to each other. While their busy schedules usually kept them from interacting, they typically ate dinner at the mess hall around the same time. They also both shared the same sense of humor.</p><p>            “I had some engineering scribes line this set of power armor in Bay 3 with lead plating, just for the Glowing Sea. Consider it your graduation present, Knight”.</p><p>            “I appreciate it, Proctor. It’s everything I could have asked for”.</p><p>            “It still needs a bit of work, but I thought I’d have a little more time before you moved up in rank. The left leg’s still a bit sticky, but it works well enough for regulation purposes. It’ll keep the creeps off of you. When you’re done getting suited up, Elder Maxson wanted to see you on the Command Deck.</p><p>            The last time that Nora had gotten into power armor was almost two months ago, back in Concord. One of the good things about having a harrowing, near-death experience with a deathclaw was that it had helped Nora get adjusted to power armor <em>quickly</em>. After climbing into the frame and feeling the armor pieces enclose her in a metal case, Nora took a couple of steps forward to test the armor.</p><p>            It was heavier than the T-45 suit, but less rust and damage allowed it to move smoother. Nora took a few more steps and turned around, modelling her armor for an amused Proctor Ingram.</p><p>            “Does it fit well?”</p><p>            “Perfectly, Proctor,” Nora grinned.</p><p>#</p><p>            As soon as Nora reported to the Command Deck, she saw Paladin Danse and Elder Maxson both waiting for her. Elder Maxson and Nora had talked only mere hours ago, when Nora was formally being conferred the rank of Knight. Paladin Danse had been present over the past two weeks of Nora’s training, occasionally offering motivation or pointers on how to accomplish the odd task. Outside of training purposes, it seemed he’d been otherwise avoiding her. As much of a nuisance as their spat during the end of her orientation had been, she didn’t feel it necessary to harp him on the issue. This was all the more true considering that Elder Maxson had implied that he was the only person being reprimanded for the incident.</p><p>            <em>I wonder if he’s still mad at me,</em> Nora thought.</p><p>            He didn’t <em>seem</em> mad. On the contrary, for the first time in weeks, as she saluted the two officers in front of her, she noticed that he was actually <em>smiling</em> at her.</p><p>            “Congratulations, Knight,” Danse said first. “I’m…I’m proud of you”.</p><p>            “Celebrations will have to be postponed for now,” Elder Maxson said curtly. “Now that you’ve both arrived, you two will follow me to the Flight Deck. I need to show you something”.</p><p>            Once they’d reached the Flight Deck and made it all the way to the opposite end from the main entry unto the ship, Elder Maxson pointed out on the horizon at a large facility visible from the desk, to the southeast of the Prydwen.</p><p>            “That’s Fort Strong,” Elder Maxson told Nora. “Paladin Danse is already quite familiar with the location. His reconnaissance squad stumbled upon the area while they were reconnoitering the Commonwealth a few months back. He lost his second-in-command at that location. It’s infested with super mutants”.</p><p>            “I recommended a full bombardment of that location if a situation ever arose where it would be advantageous to the Brotherhood,” Danse said grimly. “Seems today, I finally get my wish”.</p><p>            “Having those aberrations of nature close enough to smell makes me sick to my stomach,” Elder Maxson said coldly. “To make matters worse, they’re sitting on a massive stockpile of Fat Man shells that would be useful to our campaign. You got an interesting update from the Commonwealth Minutemen a week or so ago, Knight? All transmissions coming through the Prydwen’s radio, even to your Pip-Boy, are monitored. It would seem the Minutemen have used a Fat Man to secure a radio beacon called…?”</p><p>            He left the sentence open for Nora to complete, “Outpost Zimonja, sir”.</p><p>            “From what I’ve heard via the Minutemen, the battle plan was made by the General of the Minutemen. Commendable work. Are you personally familiar with a Fat Man?”</p><p>            “It’s a portable nuclear catapult,” Nora responded. “My husband had a story about having to use one once, when he served in the military”. By now, Paladin Danse had been made aware of Nora’s true age, and was able to understand that Nora meant the original United States Army.</p><p>            “Did he ever tell you anything else about it?”<br/>            “No, sir”.</p><p>            “Permit me to share some extra information about the Fat Man, Knight. I’m sure you already know this, but if you fire a Fat Man in close quarters, there won’t be enough of you left to bury in a shoebox. The Minutemen will likely be very happy to know that after this mission, they’ll have less super mutants to deal with in this area. Especially less <em>suiciders</em>”.</p><p>            “Now,” the Elder commanded, “there’s a Vertibird down at the Airport on standby along with a couple of other Knights who have already been briefed on the mission parameters. I want you to head over there, wipe out everything that moves, and secure that stockpile. Understood?”</p><p>            “Yes sir!”</p><p>#</p><p>            Attacking a nest of super mutants with a small force of Brotherhood soldiers and a Vertibird armed with two miniguns almost seemed like cheating at first.</p><p>            Super Mutants were big, dumb, ugly, and strong. Anything that considered using a mini-nuke as a close contact weapon wasn’t something that Nora would call “intelligent”. Combat training with the Aspirants seemed to be enough to learn how to deal with mutants; having improved with a rifle was helpful. Raining five-millimeter bullets on their heads was overkill. No one on the Vertibird seemed to mind.</p><p>            The sole concern for the entire group was that one of the super mutants might strike the aircraft with a lucky shot from a missile launcher or Fat Man. Closing in on the ruined military base, Nora and one other Knight assigned to the two miniguns mounted to the plane noticed a lack of long-range combatants on the enemy side. The Super Mutants had apparently chosen to greet the attacking aerial forces with pistols.</p><p>            As the Vertibird got closer, Nora could see something emerge from behind one of the buildings. Paladin Danse had noticed it too.</p><p>            “Shit! Lancer Elliot! Behemoth!”</p><p>            A giant boulder narrowly missed the aircraft, soaring just inches below the Vertibird’s fuselage. Without hesitation, Nora aimed down the sights of the minigun and focused all of her attention on the giant super mutant.</p><p>            “Take that thing down so I can land!” The Lancer yelled. From the angle the aircraft was flying at, Nora could tell that the Lancer was trying to avoid projectiles <em>and</em> ensure that either Nora or Knight Rojin had a clear shot with the miniguns at any given time. The Paladin and remaining two Knights considered jumping out of the aircraft. From a low enough distance, their power armor could absorb the shock of the fall. Furthermore, it meant more bullets being sent into the Behemoth’s flesh.</p><p>            The sudden sound of another large rock striking the tail of the Vertibird interrupted the plan, sending the aircraft into a tailspin. The Lancer struggled to regain control of the Vertibird. Fortunately, the boulder had only managed to wing the plane. As soon as she was able to regain a line of sight, Nora began firing more bullets into the behemoth’s skull. Before long, the monster collapsed into the pavement of the roads along Fort Strong. Lancer Elliot took the shock of the moment to find a place to land the plane.</p><p>            “God, look at that thing bleed,” Nora could hear him say as the Vertibird descended. Paladin Danse was yelling orders behind her: “move it people! Off the ship!”</p><p>            The two remaining Knights jumped out first, followed by Nora, Rojin, and then Danse himself. With all five soldiers equipped in full suits of power armor, the remaining twenty or so super mutants with pipe rifles and wooden boards were wiped out in a matter of seconds.</p><p>            The inside of Fort Strong wasn’t much more difficult to deal with for the Brotherhood forces. The one drawback to fighting within Fort Strong’s interior was the relative lack of space. Some of the tighter corners of the building were more difficult to navigate or poorly lit. Nora counted the sounds of at least a few bullets ricocheting off of her power armor at various points as the group progressed within the building.</p><p>            Before long, they’d found an elevator leading down to an underground section of the military fort. The underground base was relatively well-preserved. It was disorganized and had obvious signs of super mutant activity, but the actual structure was still quite sound for a building that hadn’t been maintained in two-hundred years.</p><p>            The first few rooms were empty. Some of the Knights rummaged through drawers and desks to find technical documents or useful salvage. Nora noticed a crate labelled “grenades” with a broken lock, and opened the lid to find a few usable fragmentation grenades still inside. When one Knight reached the lowest level of the fort’s offices, a mutant dog sleeping by the stairwell raised its ears and woke up.</p><p>            “We’re hot!” The Knight yelled for everyone else’s attention, firing his laser rifle into the abdomen and face of the mutant dog. Just as the dog succumbed to its injuries, the sound of a missile taking flight could be heard. It narrowly missed the frontmost Knight’s head, but the resulting explosion hitting the wall behind him created a force that cracked the arm of his power armor. Still, the Knight rushed forward, down the stairs and into the wake of missile-wielding mutants while the rest of the Brotherhood strike team quickly followed.</p><p>            “Keep firing!” Paladin Danse commanded as the four Knights under his command shot off volley after volley of laser rifle fire. Typical to the Brotherhood’s frontline combat tactics, Danse and three of the four knights under his command continued their show of force, pressing inward on the corridor where a mutant with a missile launcher reloaded while two other mutants in the corridor provided covering fire. As Nora had been taught during her time in Aspirant boot camp, the idea was to overpower and outgun at every confrontation.</p><p>            <em>Fuck that, </em>she thought to herself, backing up towards the stairwell. <em>They’re gonna get blown to hell with missiles</em>.</p><p>            Paladin Danse noticed Nora’s regression from the firefight just in time to see the newly-minted Knight throw three frag grenades into the corridor in quick succession. As the first grenade soared through the air, Nora screamed at the other Knights “GRENADES OUT, GET DOWN!”</p><p>            Her idea had come quickly enough to be executed while the three Knights still had a decent distance between themselves and the super mutants. Even the Knight closest to the mutants had enough time to hear Nora scream and see the grenade land several in front of him, squarely in the middle of all three mutants. Between the power armor suits and the remaining cover around the corridor’s walls, the Brotherhood were safe.</p><p>            The mutants, on the other hand, barely registered what was happening until it was too late. The mutant with the missile launcher never realized the problem at all, triumphantly finishing the reloading of its missile launcher only to lift the weapon up and then immediately get its legs blown off by the grenades that were sitting right beneath it. One of the two remaining mutants was blown to bits as well. The last one had ducked into an office room to avoid the blast but had not gotten far enough behind cover to be completely protected. Danse seemed all too happy to send one final laser shot into the crippled mutant’s skull before looking back at Nora and commending her for her quick thinking.</p><p>            Beyond the final corridor lay a secured door, accessible via terminal. The door opened to reveal crates of Fat Man ammunition as far as the eye could see. The retrieval mission was an undoubted success. As Paladin Danse surveyed the spoils, the other Knights chatted about celebrating the successful operation over Salisbury Steaks in the mess hall.</p><p>            “And look at Knight Mulyer!” Knight Rojin said suddenly, “sneaking off to surprise those mutants with some explosive presents? You got any more of those grenades?”</p><p>            “There’s a couple more in the crate past the stairs,” Nora responded. “When the shots started firing, I only had what were already in my hands”.</p><p>            “I say we have a round of beers tonight as well! Let’s celebrate your first successful mission as a Knight, Mulyer!”</p><p>            “I’m flattered, but Knight-Captain Cade says I shouldn’t drink. It’s a long story, but—”</p><p>             “Alright,” Paladin Danse yelled, getting everyone’s attention.</p><p>             He smiled. “Enjoy your beers and water without me. I’ll be a bit longer since I’ll have to stay and supervise the transfer of our acquisitions to the Prydwen. Gentlemen, reconnoiter the area for anything else valuable while you’re still here. Knight Rojin, I’ll have Knight Mulyer bring up a signal grenade for you in just a minute so you can take the easy way home and inform the Elder of our victory. Mulyer…we need to talk”.</p><p>             The male Knights left the Paladin and Nora alone while they scavenged for other useful items.</p><p><em>            This is about our fight, isn’t it? </em>She composed herself, trying to remain as respectful as possible.</p><p>             “I’m…I’m sorry,” Paladin Danse said.</p><p>             Nora was taken aback. The last thing she was expecting from Danse was an outright apology. A bit of uncertainty ran through Nora’s mind as she imagined Danse being coerced by a very angry Elder Maxson to apologize for some contrived infraction involving their argument.</p><p>            “Let me explain,” Danse sighed, “I wasn’t reasonable with you when you first joined up, and you deserve a full apology. I just wanted you to know that what I said back at the airport: I wasn’t trying to insult or offend you. Quite frankly, after what you’ve made of yourself in such a short amount of time, insulting you is the last thing I would ever want to do, soldier”.</p><p>            “I’ll accept your apology, but I want an explanation, Paladin. All I was hearing on orientation day was how impressive it was that <em>you</em> recommended me so highly to the Brotherhood of Steel. If that’s true, why’d you change your mind after Cade’s medical exam? Seemed a bit sexist”.</p><p>            Danse was genuinely taken aback. “Damn, <em>sexist</em>? No, soldier, that’s <em>not</em> how I meant that. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I was concerned over your situation… but not <em>that </em>part of—”</p><p>            Nora was staring at him with a blank look. Danse shook his head.</p><p>            “Sorry. I’m terrible at this. If you’ll indulge me, let me just start over. When I first met you, you reminded me of someone I knew. Someone special: a very dear friend of mine who isn’t here anymore. His name was Cutler. Hell, we were friends <em>before</em> we joined the Brotherhood, back when we were just scavvers in Rivet City taking apart toasters for our next meal”.</p><p>            “I was expecting this to be about a woman, considering the circumstances,” Nora noted.</p><p>            “It’s not,” Danse continued. “Though Cutler’s the reason I hate these freaks so much”.</p><p>            He gestured at the super mutant corpses lying around the room. “Cutler was only one of their victims. I’m sure you can see from all the gore laying around this facility what these mutants will do to people given the chance. If only Cutler were to have been so lucky”.</p><p>            Nora gulped. “What happened to him?” It took Danse almost a full minute to respond.</p><p>            “He went missing one day on a scouting op. It took a while, but I got permission to track his team down. My team tracked his squad to a super mutant hive. Those bastards had killed everyone else on Cutler’s team, used the Forced Evolutionary Virus to turn Cutler into one of their own kind. I had to…I was forced to put him down”.</p><p>            He looked at Nora. “I stand by my actions. There’s no reversing the effects of FEV. I did what I had to do, and that’s the end of it. It’s just, since then, I’ve seen a lot of soldiers come and go. Some were brave, some were honest, and hell, some were downright heroic. Before you, though, none of them quite reminded me of him. It’s a good feeling, but it frightens me at the same time. Having a bond with someone and then losing them: it changes you. I don’t want to go through that again”.</p><p>            He muttered, “and…I was starting to process that feeling of friendship again. All of a sudden, what you told me all along <em>clicked</em>. I’m asking you, a friend, to put yourself in danger and risk your life for our purposes in order to find your son. Given the results of your medical exam, I feel downright foolish. I could have just as easily have ensured the Brotherhood’s success in this war <em>and </em>helped you find your son by seeking out Virgil for you while having you remain at the police station in safety. If you wanted to join the Brotherhood in the meanwhile or afterwards, after everything you’ve already done, I could have just had you and your son join the Brotherhood as a scribe and a squire”.</p><p>            “I started thinking how to broach the subject after Cade told me about your exam, hoping if you didn’t <em>want</em> to be a Knight, that I could just undo my mistake before it was too late. And…it came out <em>completely</em> wrong. I’m sorry”.</p><p>            “I…” Nora sighed, “sincerely hope Elder Maxson didn’t force you to apologize”.</p><p>            “Maxson? Don’t get me wrong Knight. I’ve known Arthur Maxson a long time. He did tell me somewhere along the way how what I said could be heavily interpreted as an insult, but that was it. Why do you ask?”</p><p>            “He vouched for you after you left, saying you were just looking at me from a different perspective. I didn’t entirely believe him at first, but after this conversation, it seems like he was right. There’s a heart under all that armor after all”.</p><p>            Danse blushed, embarrassed. “I deserved that. Sometimes I need a reminder, but…yes. There is”.</p><p>            He reached into a storage bag on his armor and pulled out what Nora identified as some sort of flare or smoke signal.</p><p>            “I grew up alone in the Capital Wasteland. Sometimes I have hazy dreams of what my parents were like, but it’s all very unclear. I guess I’ve got a soft spot for little boys all alone in the wasteland. In short, I started seeing myself in your situation too. I got soft. After seeing you in action though, Knight? The only thing I’m still worried about is anything stupid enough to stand in your way while you get to him”.</p><p>            He handed her the signal grenade.</p><p>            “Now, take this up to Knight Rojin. It’ll call a Vertibird to take you four back to the ship. You’re a full-fledged Knight of the Brotherhood of Steel. Next time we roll out, we head to the Glowing Sea”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Styx</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 22: In which Nora wanders into the heart of the end of the world.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>STYX</h1><p>
  <em>“And you’re gonna have to let it go someday/you’ve been diggin’ it up like Groundhog Day/cause it might have been something, don’t say” – Tame Impala “Lost in Yesterday”</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>            “Our first Christmas with Shaun…”</p><p>            The arguments over the Christmas tree were worth the final presentation. Nora and Codsworth had wrapped blue tinsel with care around the deep-green pine needles of the fir that Nate had picked out at the store. Her husband had initially insisted on red: his favorite color.</p><p>            “But we just had a baby boy! This year should be special to commemorate that”.</p><p>            “Red and blue don’t go together, Nora”.</p><p>            “We can get <em>red</em> decorations when we have a daughter”.</p><p>            On the morning of December 25<sup>th</sup>, 2077, Nora wore a brilliant blue dress to match the tree. Nate had relented, wearing a blue suit specifically for the party they’d be having tonight. Even Shaun, who had just turned five months old, was dressed in a baby-sized shirt and slacks that had come in the cutest white and blue set Nora had ever seen.</p><p>            “He’s going to be too fussy to wear that,” Nate warned her. Nora had gone in with Codsworth to assist him with the suit on Christmas morning only to find that Shaun was as happy as ever.</p><p>            <em>He’s the most perfect baby ever.</em></p><p>            “Alright,” Nate remarked, opening Christmas presents on the floor of their living room. “I’ll admit it. You had the best Christmas plan, my love”.</p><p>            “Mother knows best,” Nora smirked.</p><p>            “I am getting classic red and green next year, right?”</p><p>            “Maybe. Now, open your presents. That one’s from Shaun”.</p><p>            Nate laughed. “My little man, already shopping? Mommy’s a bad influence…”</p><p>            He opened the packaging and pulled out the gift inside. Codsworth floated dutifully behind Nate, collecting the discarded wrappings for the trash.</p><p>            “Wow! A Vault-Suit! It’s just my size!”</p><p>            “I knew you’d love it, Nate!”</p><p>            He smiled sweetly at her, coming forward to kiss her and pat baby Shaun on the head gently. “Thanks little guy. Wait and see what I got your Mommy”.</p><p>            There was a sudden knock at the door.</p><p>            “Who is that?” Nora asked.</p><p>            “Ugh…don’t tell me they’re early. Our friends are coming over today, remember? For the Christmas luncheon?”</p><p>            Nora walked over to the door, carrying Shaun in one hand. Piper, Nick, MacCready, Preston, and Danse were all at the door. The Mulyer family welcomed their friends in, taking presents each of them had brought over while they made themselves comfortable within the living and dining areas of the house.</p><p>            Piper wore a full-length rose-colored dress, and clamored on about getting ‘the best’ gift for Shaun’s first Christmas. Nick and Preston, dressed in a neat beige trenchcoat and a black suit and tie respectively, helped Nora re-organize the room to accommodate the sudden influx of people. MacCready and Danse, both dressed in military uniforms, chatted Nate up about various topics. MacCready went on to ask about eggnog. Danse shied away from the rest of the group, avoiding any contact with Nick Valentine and curtly telling Nate “congrats on your promotion, Corporal”.</p><p>            “Y-you guys,” Nora laughed. “Isn’t it early?”</p><p>            “It’s Christmas, Nora!” Preston chuckled. “It’s a time for coming together. We couldn’t wait to show up”.</p><p>            “We even got Valentine and Danse to play nice for the day,” MacCready sneered.</p><p>            “C’mon now, we’ve agreed to let our political differences slide for the day…” Nick laughed.</p><p>            “Agreed, Valentine. We can settle the spat between the police and military rationing practices <em>tomorrow</em>”.</p><p>            “Let’s eat!” Piper laughed.</p><p>            “Codsworth, how long does that egg salad have to remain in the fridge for?”</p><p>            “Not long at all, Mum. Only two more centuries. It’ll be over in the blink of an eye”.</p><p>            <em>Was that a joke? </em>Nora had turned away to shut the door after everyone had come in. She turned back towards the kitchen for clarification while Shaun wiggled around in her arms.</p><p>            “C’mon Codsworth, be serious. How—”</p><p>            The living room was suddenly ruined again. The Christmas tree and all its blue trimmings had vanished. What had once been her robotic butler was now lying on the floor of the kitchen, a blasted irretrievable wreck. No one else remained in the room besides her and Shaun, but Shaun wasn’t moving.</p><p>            The only sign of anyone who’d been there a moment ago was Nate. Where he’d once been sitting down, opening presents, a skeleton in a tattered Vault Suit now lay. Small mutated centipedes inched their way around the eye sockets. Nora felt a sensation of vomit arise in the pit of her gut.</p><p>            She quickly turned away and held Shaun out, to look at him. Her baby was now a young boy, staring at the woman he no longer recognized in fear.</p><p>            “W-who are you?”</p><p>            “Shaun! Shaun, it’s me! It’s your mother!”</p><p>            “I-I don’t know you! Help! Someone help!”</p><p>            Wearing what looked like some sort of Institute cleansuit, Shaun broke away from Nora’s grip and bolted through the front door of their ruined home. Nora ran after him, still in her blue dress. The thick fog and radiation enclosing Sanctuary seemed to eat away at her outfit, turning it into tattered rags. She felt the skin melt off of her bones as she chased fruitlessly after Shaun: as she ran to her death, two-hundred years overdue, in a radioactive ocean of gamma rays.</p><p>            It was useless. He had disappeared into the Glowing Sea. With her final moments, she let out a horrifying cry of anguish. Pain. Sadness. Anger. Fear.</p><p>            Everything went dark. In death, she listened closely for Nate’s voice. Surely here, in the void beyond the end of their life together, she would see him again. She opened her eyes, expecting to see him waiting for her.</p><p>            She was back aboard the Prydwen, waking up in a cold sweat in her bunk in the women’s barracks. Her scream had not carried over to the waking world. She clutched her sheets like a frightened child, still half-trapped within the dream world and not knowing whether to look for Shaun or to ensure that she hadn’t disturbed the other soldiers.</p><p>#</p><p>            “You wanted to see me, Elder?”</p><p>            “Merry Christmas Eve, Knight”. Behind his typical commanding demeanor, Arthur Maxson seemed particularly jovial today. Given the lack of tree and tinsel in his office or anywhere on the Prydwen, for that matter, Nora somehow found herself doubting that his good mood was due to the holiday in any way.</p><p>            “Did you know the holiday is still celebrated in some parts of the wasteland, after the war? Reconnaissance teams tell me that in Diamond City, they decorate the town for the festivities, Knight. I’m sure you’ve been?”</p><p>            “Not for the holiday, Elder. I think I remember that they also celebrate Halloween, though”.</p><p>            “Sadly, here in the Brotherhood, we don’t have any time to celebrate. However, sister, you may be pleased to find that I have a present for you”.</p><p>            <em>Arthur Maxson is giving me a present?</em> Indeed, the Elder was holding a tin of something towards her. Nora took the tin and opened it up to find it contained a few of the smoke grenades that the Brotherhood used to call down Vertibirds.</p><p>            “We haven’t been able to undertake our usual amount of preliminary reconnaissance within the Glowing Sea, due to the high levels of radiation and environmental damage within that site. Between that and the fact that we have no idea where Dr. Virgil actually is within that godforsaken blast zone, I’m effectively sending you in blind. I <em>despise</em> sending soldiers in blind”.</p><p>            He pointed at the tin. “In order to give you an edge, we’ll be dropping you and Paladin Danse at the furthest possible point that we can manage. This way, the amount of groundwork you’ll both have to do to find Virgil is kept to a minimum. Obviously, your flight to the Glowing Sea is pre-planned, and we have a Vertibird being prepped for departure as we speak. You’ll leave late tonight, in the hopes that the sun will rising when you reach the Glowing Sea and you can maximize the use of what little daylight you’ll see there. God willing, of course, you’ll eventually have to find your way back. To ensure as smooth of a mission as possible for you both, I’ve issued you some Vertibird signal grenades. As soon as you reach the outer rim of the blast zone, where the sky completely clears up and the radiation isn’t all-encompassing, use the signal grenades to let us know that you’re ready for extraction”.</p><p>            “These are impressive,” Nora grinned. “I’ll make good use of them, Elder”.</p><p>            “I’m confident that you will, Knight. I’d like to state that signal grenades are typically something we reserve for our Paladins, but given the importance of the mission, we’ve made an exception in issuing a set to you as well. Assuming your mission is successful, I’m willing to continue making exceptions for you, so long as they aren’t abused. When you need more, talk to Proctor Teagan”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Twilight above the Commonwealth was a sight to behold. The trip to the Glowing Sea had been surprisingly tranquil. At daybreak, most of the wilderness of the Commonwealth was either just waking up, or just beginning to sleep. The Vertibird soared through the air of the southern Commonwealth: the only place the Minutemen had not yet extended their reach.</p><p>            Work had begun on convincing eastern settlements to integrate into the Commonwealth Minutemen. While Danse had spent time overseeing the transfer of mini-nuke shells to the Boston Airport, Nora had been allowed time to monitor the movements of the Minutemen. Preston had informed her that the Minutemen were slowly making gains within the east. The factory at Starlight Drive-In was structurally complete. Work was beginning on establishing assembly lines. With Nora’s permission, Preston had begun claiming one settlement at a time to the east of Covenant. Construction began at Taffington Boathouse to turn the waterfront homestead into a water purification plant. With Minutemen numbers slowly increasing, a full company of ten Minutemen were making plans to follow-up on a request from a settlement called Greentop Nursery regarding super mutants positioned north of their farm. MacCready had dutifully returned to the Minutemen after his work at Outpost Zimonja, although Preston expressed doubts that MacCready would stay following the end of his one-month term.</p><p>            Someday perhaps the southern Commonwealth would look like the northwest. For now, Danse and Nora merely marveled at the twisted beauty of the wasteland as the blast zone came into view.</p><p>            “I can only imagine how ominous the bombs exploding must have looked,” Danse said, as the Vertibird landed. “Look at this place, Mulyer. Nothing but death and destruction for miles around”.</p><p>            “Have you ever seen a picture of a mushroom cloud, Danse? Or maybe a drawing?”</p><p>            “I’ve reviewed test footage from military archives”.</p><p>            “Imagine a cloud that was much, much taller,” Nora said hauntingly. Danse felt a chill go down his spine as he remembered that Nora had been on the ground, watching the mushroom cloud rise in horror on that fateful day, two-hundred and ten years ago.</p><p>            “Forget I said anything…” he handed Nora a bottle of Rad-X after taking a dose for himself. After they’d both taken their medication and closed their suits with their helmets, they began the trip into the Glowing Sea.</p><p>            The dead husks of tree trunks slowly gave way to scorched earth and twisted landscapes. The sky became a sickly green color. The Glowing Sea was apparently enshrouded in radiation and subject to frequent radiation storms. Even with the daylight, it was difficult to determine the sun’s position in the sky.</p><p>            They were in the land of the dead, where nothing remained but broken power pylons and the collapsed shells of ruined buildings. The occasional feral ghoul herd or radscorpion punctuated their trek to the heart of the Glowing Sea, but were put down easily. What little information that could be gleaned about Virgil seeking shelter here, of all places, was that if he were going to hide here, why not hide right at the center of the blast?</p><p>            Indeed, the problem was not the monsters that lurked here. The same harsh conditions that had kept the Institute from finding Virgil here were also the biggest threat to Nora and Danse. The Geiger counters on Nora’s Pip-Boy and Danse’s custom power armor suit were both chirping incessantly in a cacophony of warnings. While they had brought provisions of Rad-X and RadAway to combat radiation poisoning, they were still likely to die if they could not find safe haven (or <em>Virgil</em>) within a day.</p><p>            The twisted remnants of a Red Rocket Truck Stop’s signature roof-piece contrasted against the otherwise indistinguishable features of the rocky graveyard. Surprisingly, the walls were still intact, and the door was still solidly attached to the truck stop.</p><p>            “Let’s take a quick look,” Danse advised. “This might be an excellent fallback point in the event of an emergency”.</p><p>            The Red Rocket interior was noticeably tilted. The initial blast of the nuclear bombs had shifted the foundations of the building. Remarkably, the rest of the foundation was astoundingly intact, sans some flooding in less elevated sections. The silence in the air indicated that the thick, lead-lined walls protected them from the radiation outside. What had once been the garage area of the truck stop was still a viable spot to seek shelter. Nora chuckled a bit at Danse’s use of the word “bivouac”.</p><p>            “Y’know, for someone who used to be a scavver in some post-War city, you’re pretty <em>verbose</em>”.</p><p>            “When I was little, I think my parents used to read to me,” Danse explained. “I’m sure you understand how unusual that is in a world where so many are illiterate. I can’t be sure of the details since it’s all a blur in my head, but it’s a safe assumption to say that at least one of my parents were well-educated. I can’t imagine how else I could have already known how to read by the time I was alone”.</p><p>            “If you don’t mind me asking, did something bad happen to your family?”</p><p>            “Maybe. I’m not sure. One day I was just suddenly alone and hungry. I can’t say for sure if I was abandoned or if…” he trailed off.</p><p>            “I doubt they would have gone through the trouble of teaching you to read just to throw you out on your own one day”.</p><p>            “It wouldn’t be totally uncommon. Maybe I just got too old for them. It’s not unusual for children in the wasteland to seek out, or be <em>made</em> to seek out, their own fortunes when they’re still young. I want to say I was around nine or ten, maybe, when I wound up alone. Truth be told, I’m not sure of my actual age. I don’t remember anything traumatic, though, like being kicked out or watching my parents die in some sort of tragedy. Honestly, I think I just got separated from them and never found my way back home”.</p><p>            Having inspected the Red Rocket, Nora marked the location on her Pip-Boy. The duo returned to the harsh terrain outside, making their way southwest to the location of the center of the blast radius. Before long, a mass of uprooted land, forming a small mountain, came into view.</p><p>            “That’s the area that got sent upwards when the missiles fell,” Danse explained. “We’re close.</p><p>            As they continued walking, he posed a question to her.</p><p>            “So, what exactly happened in the days before the bombs to justify ending the world like this?”</p><p>            “It wasn’t a well-loved decision,” Nora explained. “I guess we could start at the beginning. How much history are you aware of from the 20<sup>th</sup> century?”</p><p>            “Well,” Danse smirked, “more than you would think. Have you ever heard of the Arlington Library? I think in your day it was more commonly referred to as the ‘Library of Congress’?”</p><p>            “It didn’t burn to a crisp in the war?”</p><p>            “Sadly there was some damage, but it’s surprisingly intact. Raiders occupied it for the longest time. A few years ago, in 2281, the Brotherhood finally got around to wiping out the raiders trespassing on the property. Our scribes had a field day…and so did I”.</p><p>            “And your preferred reading material of choice, Danse?”</p><p>            “Military manuals and history books”.</p><p>            “So you’ve read about World War Two”.</p><p>            “You’re referring to Hiroshima and Nagasaki?”</p><p>            “The United States wanted a weapon to bring a quick end to the war, and the atomic bomb was born. Atomic energy became a driving force in the United States as the years went on. It got really bad in the 2050’s, when I was a little girl. The other major energy source that the world used was oil”.</p><p>            “And it was <em>finite</em>,” Danse added. “And the Resource Wars began”.</p><p>            “America was a much more powerful nation than most. The European Commonwealth and the Middle East had descended into anarchy long before things got ugly for us. There was something called the United Nations when I was a child. One of my first political memories was watching the newscaster report that Tel Aviv was destroyed by terrorists with a nuclear weapon not long after. We didn’t have school that day”.</p><p>            “I read a bit about that too,” Danse said. “I’m sorry, I’m not sure where Tel Aviv yet. I understand it’s on another continent?”</p><p>            “I don’t think it’s possible to travel that far anymore. My mother was from the European Commonwealth, Danse. She was born in a place called London, and she moved to the United States when she was a little girl due to her father’s job, back in the years when that took only a day. Do you know where London was?”</p><p>            “Across the ocean,” Danse said astounded. “And Tel Aviv?”</p><p>            “Much, <em>much</em> farther. Almost double the distance from here to London, I’d say”.</p><p>            “It never ceases to amaze me how much technology run amok has cost this world. Not to be rude, but I have to wonder why your generation didn’t say something about the downfall of civilization”.</p><p>            “If I stacked up one rock for every answer I could give you to that question, we’d have a staircase to the top of the mountain in no time”.</p><p>            “Understandable. Could I just know yours?”</p><p>            “We were taught not to question it.” Nora said. “I held down the home front and my husband went to war against Communist China because the Commies were coming to take everything we held dear. In the end, I don’t know if we struck first or if they did. All I know is that the bombs started falling and we ran to the Vault. Maybe China decided they were really going to invade us and failed, or maybe the powers that were decided that they were done holding off an inevitable conclusion. I’m not even sure if there <em>is</em> a China anymore, though I imagine if there was, I wouldn’t have woken up to a ruined United States. I would have just woken up to more China”.</p><p>            At the base of the mountain, Danse noticed a vague path up the summit. Multiple sets of footprints could be seen going up and down the pathway.</p><p>            “Ferals?” Nora asked, confused.</p><p>            “Ferals don’t dig out footpaths with rudimentary tools,” Danse muttered, “although who the hell else could survive out here? <em>Sentient</em> ghouls, perhaps”.</p><p>            “Wouldn’t the radiation just make them go feral quicker?”</p><p>            “I guess the ghoulification process affects them all differently. They all eventually go feral, but some take forever. I guess if they can’t bring themselves to self-euthanize, isolating themselves to be less of a danger is <em>somewhat</em> honorable”.</p><p>            When they reached the summit of the mountain, Danse stopped Nora from progressing.</p><p>            “It’s not ghouls,” he said ominously.</p><p>            “Is that a good thing?” Nora looked down into the mouth of the crater and noticed that there were several metal shacks arranged into a makeshift outpost. People were kneeling at a lake of highly contaminated water. Apparently, they were praying.</p><p>            “Children of Atom,” Danse warned her.</p><p>            “Danse, I have no idea what that means”.</p><p>            “It means we approach with caution. The Children of Atom are a radiation-worshipping cult. Most of their members boast some sort of immunity to radiation that they think is a blessing from their so-called deity. That explains how they’re out here”.</p><p>            “Are they…friendly?” Nora asked.</p><p>            “Depends on their mood and how rad-addled their brains are. You’re more persuasive than I am. Maybe you should take point”.</p><p>            The pair descended into the crater. A few of the Children looked over at Nora and Danse, who both approached with their hands up and their weapons holstered.</p><p>            No one was shooting at them so far.</p><p>            When the pair reached the basin, an older woman in tattered rags approached.</p><p>            “State your purpose, strangers. You walk on Atom’s hallowed ground”.</p><p>            <em>Right, let’s keep this short, sweet, and straight to the point</em>, Nora told herself.</p><p>            “We mean you no harm,” Nora said simply. “We’re just here looking for information”.</p><p>            “What <em>kind</em> of information?” The woman asked. “Are you seeking Division?”</p><p>            “We’re looking for a man named Virgil”.</p><p>            “Virgil?” The woman’s eyes flashed with recognition. “We know this Virgil. What is it you desire from him?”</p><p>            “I just need his help. I’m looking for the people who took my baby boy. Virgil may know how to find them”.</p><p>            The cultists all seemed to look at Nora with sympathy. Their leader, the woman speaking with Nora, nodded in understanding.</p><p>            “It would seem your cause is righteous. Very well, I shall tell you what I know. This Virgil has come to trade with us, on occasion, but largely keeps to himself. In truth, Virgil has been a cause of concern for us. Some believe his presence to be an affront to Atom. You can find him living in a cave southwest of here. Follow that pathway to the top of the crater, and then follow the shoreline of the lake. You will see the opening of a cave where the shoreline stops bending. Virgil resides there”.</p><p>            “Thank you for your understanding,” Nora sighed with relief.</p><p>            “Of course. Atom guide you, child”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Mother Isolde’s directions had taken Danse and Nora straight to the mouth of Virgil’s cave. The only obstacle they faced was a deathclaw that had decided to sleep near the entrance, perhaps waiting to make a meal out of Virgil. The actual entry to the cave seemed to give the two Brotherhood soldiers more anxiety than tackling the deathclaw just outside the entrance.</p><p>            Protectrons monitoring the entryway of the cave paid little attention to the two soldiers as they made their way to the heart of the cave. The cave was full of salvage and makeshift equipment. The Institute scientist had turned his home into a makeshift laboratory for some unknown purpose.</p><p>            The unmistakable sound of a <em>super mutant’s voice</em> bellowed out to the two soldiers. There he was, standing in front of them, wielding a strange looking laser rifle in his hands.</p><p>            “Alright! Take it nice and slow. No sudden moves”.</p><p>            The super mutant was unlike any that Nora (or Danse) had ever seen. It was common knowledge that super mutants were lacking in intelligence. They typically could only manage basic sentences and reacted to almost any situation with violence. They certainly didn’t form labs in the middle of nowhere and hold people at gunpoint for conversations.</p><p>            “A-Are you Virgil?”</p><p>            “Look, lady, you know damn well who I am. What’re you doing here?”</p><p>            “If we didn’t need to find your son…” Danse could be heard muttering under his breath.</p><p>            “The Institute sent you, didn’t they?” Virgil barked. “What’s their plan? You two distract me while Kellogg sneaks around from behind and finishes the job?”</p><p>            “Take it easy, Virgil. Kellogg’s dead”.</p><p>            “Dead? He’s…dead? Don’t you lie to me!”</p><p>            “Kellogg is <em>dead</em>,” Nora insisted. “I’ve got the scars to prove it”.</p><p>            “You’re actually serious,” Virgil realized, disengaging his weapon much to Danse’s relief. “Kellogg was ruthless. There’s a reason the Institute used him to do their dirty work for so many years. And <em>you</em>,” he glared at Nora, “<em>you</em> killed him, eh? Well, what do you want with me?”</p><p>            “All I need is information, and you’re the man who knows what I need to know. After that, if you want, we’ll be out of your hair for good”.</p><p>            “And what kind of information would you have been looking for to wander all the way out into the Glowing Sea?”</p><p>            “I need to get into the Institute”.</p><p>            Virgil looked as though he were about to faint from shock. “Y-you what? This is no time for jokes”.</p><p>            “My friend and I are in a hundred pounds of lead-lined armor. Do we look like comedians?” Nora scoffed.</p><p>            “Oh my god, you’re <em>not </em>joking”.</p><p>            “He gets it,” Danse barked. “Now, tell us how to get there before I lose my patience”.</p><p>            “You people want to get <em>into</em> the Institute? Are you both insane? Even if you were to succeed, it would almost immediately end with your immediate death. What kind of justification could you possibly have for taking that kind of risk?”</p><p>            “The Institute took my son,” Nora said. Virgil looked as though he were about to vomit.</p><p>            “Oh,” he gasped. “I…I see. I’m sorry. The Institute has taken people from the Commonwealth in the past as test subjects. If your <em>son</em> is one of them, well, I can understand why you’d want to get in there”.</p><p>            “Test subjects?!” Nora gasped, trying to compose himself. “I-is he even still alive? He has to be…Kellogg’s memories…”</p><p>            “It depends on the experiment,” Virgil said somberly. “The projects I was working on required that the subjects be disposed of when they were past their usefulness”.</p><p>            “Jesus Christ, it’s like he’s begging us to shoot him,” Danse groaned.</p><p>            Virgil quickly added, “b-but children don’t suit the parameters for my work! Come to think of it, I can’t think of <em>any</em> experiments that involved taking children from the Commonwealth. The only babies and children I’ve seen at the Institute were our own. Even synth replacements that I’ve seen were all adults. You sound too young to have a child that old. Are you <em>really</em> sure about your theory of the Institute being responsible?”</p><p>            “My son was an infant when you took him. It’s been a few years, so you might not recognize him as a baby, but I have it on good authority the Institute were responsible”.</p><p>            “Good authority, eh? You seem convinced”.</p><p>            “Conrad Kellogg was personally responsible. That’s <em>why</em> I killed him”.</p><p>            Virgil gulped. “I see…yeah, I’d call that good authority too. I spent a lot of time in the labs. Maybe there’s some secret experiment involving children I just don’t know about. I don’t recall us having adopted children in a very long time. Regardless, let’s talk about what I know”.</p><p>            “Right before you do that,” Nora quickly added, “I just…I really need to know. Maybe you’ll recognize this piece of information. Kellogg’s reports indicated that the Institute still call him by his first name, and his memories showed Shaun as a ten-year-old boy, about <em>this</em> tall with brunette hair”.</p><p>She took her helmet off momentarily, much to Danse’s dismay, so that Kellogg could see her face. “Maybe you’ve <em>seen</em> Shaun, even just once? I need to know <em>everything</em> you can tell me”.</p><p>            “Shaun?” Virgil was clueless. “The only Shaun I know is the Institute director, Dr. Grayson. Dr. Grayson doesn’t look anything like you, and he’s definitely not a ten-year-old brunette boy. I’m sorry”.</p><p>            Nora put her helmet back on. “Yeah, I figured that was a long shot. Alright, so about getting into the Institute”.</p><p>            “First things first,” Virgil asked, “do you know anything about how people get in and out of the Institute?”</p><p>            “Teleporation,” Nora and Danse said in unison.</p><p>            “Well, well,” Virgil nodded, “good job. That’s a very closely guarded secret. You’ve certainly done your homework. I don’t understand the science behind a lot of it, but it’s called the Molecular Relay, and it’s the only way in and out of the Institute, do you understand?” He held up one large, green finger for emphasis. “<em>The only one</em>”.</p><p>            “So that’s how you got out. Probably another long shot, but do you have some way back in?”</p><p>            “Look at me. I’m a big green super mutant. The fact that I managed to adjust my dose of FEV to allow me to retain my faculties is honestly a miracle. I’m in no position to go back to the Institute”.</p><p>            “I figured your trip was one-way,” Nora sighed.</p><p>            “In or out, <em>most</em> trips on the relay are one way for humans. Synths go in and out to do all the field work. Speaking of synths, next question: do you know what an Institute Courser is?”</p><p>            “Danse?” Nora asked, indicating that she had no clue.</p><p>            “Only rumors,” Danse indicated. “Brotherhood of Steel intelligence suggests that they’re some kind of extremely dangerous synth, used only for special combat operations on the part of the Institute. <em>University Point</em>, for example, was apparently assaulted by Institute Coursers”.</p><p>            “University Point, Danse?”</p><p>            “A settlement in the Commonwealth, by the shoreline,” Virgil elaborated. “It was right between Diamond City and the ruins of the Boston Airport. They had discovered some kind of scientific secret that the Institute wanted. When they refused to turn it over, Dr. Grayson ordered a detachment of Coursers to turn the place inside out, and Coursers don’t take prisoners”.</p><p>            “Their sole purpose is to be hunters for when the Institute wants something. They typically go after escaped synths. They’re very good at what they do, and you’re going to have to kill one”.</p><p>            “If they’re anything like Kellogg, they won’t go quietly, but are they going to tell me how they get in before I put them down, or do I have to find that information by myself?”</p><p>            “Neither,” Virgil grinned, pointing to his neck. “About here, there’s a special chip embedded into their bodies. That chip allows Coursers to have a direct connection to the Molecular Relay. This way, they don’t have to head to a specific relay point every time they bring in a renegade synth. They can just relay right back to the Institute. The range covers almost the entire Commonwealth. I picked the Glowing Sea as my hiding place because it’s one of the few areas where the radiation is strong enough to interfere with the relay signal”.</p><p>            “It’s all starting to come together,” Danse grinned. “If we secure that chip, we get a way into the Institute. We win the war, and you can secure your son”.</p><p>            “So all we need to do is find the Courser, kill it, and rip the chip out of its neck? It almost sounds too easy,” Nora mumbled.</p><p>            “It sounds too easy because it’s just the first part of the plan. Once you take the chip out of the Courser, it’ll deactivate. It’s hard to kill a Courser, but the Institute wouldn’t allow someone who <em>could</em> achieve that milestone to just suddenly acquire a key to the front door”.</p><p>            “So why even bother getting a chip that’s just going to be useless?” Nora muttered.</p><p>            “It’s not the chip,” Danse realized. “It’s the data on the chip”.</p><p>            “Exactly,” Virgil nodded. “It won’t self-erase. Because it’s such specialized hardware and the chances of Courser death are low, the chip’s deactivation from the relay is the only precaution deemed necessary to safeguard the Institute. If a Courser goes offline, we’ll dispatch a team of synths to retrieve the body and recycle the chip if it’s still in usable condition. Unless we specifically get that chip back to reactivate it, the average wastelander has no hope of reactivating or recreating the chip on their own. I’ve heard rumors about a group called the Railroad manipulating Institute technology a little, but they haven’t achieved anything on the level of reactivating a Courser chip. The Institute’s made sure of that”.</p><p>            “Last question for now,” Virgil continued, “let’s say you make it to the Courser, kill him, and take the chip. We’ve already established it’s useless without the code, and I don’t have the computer engineering background necessary to crack the chip for you. I might know a thing or two, but as we’ve established my field of practice is <em>biology</em>. How do you plan to get that chip decoded? If you made it all the way to me, you’re not the <em>average</em> wastelander. You must have some kind of plan, right?”<br/>
            “Have you ever heard of the Brotherhood of Steel, Virgil?” Nora asked.</p><p>            “Can’t say that I have”.</p><p>            “We’re far better equipped and staffed than the Railroad,” Danse smirked, looking at Nora. “Once we have the chip, we can take it to Proctor Quinlan and have his scribes crack it”.</p><p>            “I’m impressed,” Virgil nodded. “Now, I’m going to need to do some work as well to help you. After you get the data from the chip, you’ll have to build some kind of transmitter that’ll be compatible with the relay. That’s the easiest part of this whole operation. I can pull from what I know of the relay to give you a general idea of what you’ll need next. There will be some gaps you’ll have to fill in, but if your people can crack a Courser chip, they can fine-tune a blueprint”.</p><p>            “Right,” Danse muttered. “So, hand us your plans and we’ll be on our way”.</p><p>            “Unless you want your friend here to be disintegrated into ashes when the relay fires up, you’re going to need to give me time to do some reading. I wouldn’t want to miscalculate anything”.</p><p>            “This isn’t his field of expertise, Danse, he’s right,” Nora sighed. “We need the Courser chip no matter what. We’ll secure that and get the data first, and then we’ll be back here. That’ll give you plenty of time to hit the books. Have something good for us when we get back”.</p><p>            “One final note,” Virgil said. “I don’t doubt that you’ll find a Courser on your own, but I have a lead for you to start with. The primary insertion point for Coursers is the ruins of the Commonwealth Institute of Technology, in Cambridge. This happens to be right above the underground base of the actual Institute, so the relay signal is at its strongest at that location. Those suits of yours probably include radios, right? Tune into the lower band of the spectrum and you’ll hear the interference from the relay. If a Courser is close by, you’ll hear a little beeping sound if you listen closely, because of the signal from the chip. The stronger the beeping sound is, the closer the Courser”.</p><p>#</p><p>            The tactical decision to extend travel as the sun set, rather than seek shelter at the Red Rocket Truck Stop, had left both Danse and Nora with signs of radiation poisoning. Thanks to their rations of Rad-X and their power armor, it hadn’t been enough to severely cripple them, but Christmas Day in the Commonwealth was still laden with complications. The Vertibird transport had gotten them back to the Prydwen quickly, at least.</p><p>            Laying in his cot in the infirmary with a bag of RadAway hooked to his arm, Danse cringed as he heard Nora vomit for the third time that morning. The radiation was definitely hitting her harder.</p><p>            “Don’t kick yourself too hard, Paladin,” Knight-Captain Cade was shaking a can of purified water. “For someone with her medical history, she’s surprisingly healthy. Besides, the difference in your conditions suggests that <em>you’re</em> the anomaly”.</p><p>            “Me?”</p><p>            “It’s probably due to your background, growing up in the wastes, but you’re relatively unaffected for a man who spent a day in a blast crater. Nora Mulyer’s reaction is more in line with what I would call the standard response. Other than being a bit dehydrated and needing some RadAway, you’re fine: that’s unusual”.</p><p>            “Oh, well…” Danse laid back against his cot. “Is Mulyer gonna be okay?”</p><p>            Cade finished shaking the can of purified water. “She’s feeling miserable at the moment because she’s vomiting up yesterday’s Nuka-Cram, but once we get some electrolytes back in her stomach and she sleeps off her side-effects, she’ll probably be—”</p><p>            “Blerrrrggghhhh!”</p><p>            Danse looked over in terror at the curtain separating his berth in the infirmary.</p><p>            “She’ll be fine,” Cade said calmly, walking over to the curtain and peeking behind it.</p><p>            “Knight, still feeling nauseated?”</p><p>            “Kinda…”</p><p>            “I’ll give you another twenty minutes,” Cade said softly, leaving the shaken-up can of purified water and assorted mix-ins where the Knight could reach it. “Once you feel like you can hold something down, start drinking that”.</p><p>            “What’s in it?” Danse could hear Mulyer ask in between gags.</p><p>            “Sugar, a bit of salt, and some crushed up vitamins. It might taste funny, but it’ll give you back some of what you just vomited up. Hopefully tonight you can manage some Instamash. I’ll have a scribe clear our your emesis basin in a minute”.</p><p>            “I think,” Nora hesitated for a moment, “I think I’m done”.</p><p>            “Great!” Cade pulled the curtain forward so Danse could see Nora. The female Knight waved at him weakly before taking a drink from Cade’s concoction.</p><p>            “She’s fine. Now relax, Paladin, before you give yourself an aneurysm”.</p><p>            After Cade turned his attention to other patients and Nora finished her first can of makeshift electrolyte water, the duo were greeted by none other than Elder Maxson entering the infirmary.</p><p>            “Paladin. Knight”. Maxson greeted them with his usual commanding demeanor. Even when they were hospitalized, it seemed that Maxson had work for them to do.</p><p>            “Sir,” they both said. In the hospital cots, proper salutes were not possible. Danse still had an IV in his arm, while Nora was barely managing to sit up straight.</p><p>            “I was pleased to know your latest operation was a success. The lead given to you both by Dr. Virgil appears to be solid. I’ve ordered the Cambridge Police station to monitor a radio station at all times so that we could begin tracking Institute Coursers over encrypted frequencies. Our initial results already prove promising”.</p><p>            He looked at Danse. “After you both secured the Deep-Range Transmitter, Paladin Danse submitted several reports involving the situation in the Commonwealth. Knight Mulyer may not be aware that one of the logistical reasons you chose the Cambridge Police Station as your base of operations in the Commonwealth was because of its close proximity to high-energy readings that Scribe Haylen kept picking up on her instruments. Virgil’s confirmation of the Institute’s presence below the ruins of the C.I.T aligns with your initial findings, later investigations done as we arrived in the Commonwealth, and civilian reports of Institute activity supposedly being around the C.I.T. The major issue is that all known entrance to the Institute from the C.I.T were long destroyed. We can’t just raid the building and dig down into the basement. The Institute are <em>far</em> below ground”.</p><p>            “By comparing the energy readings as they occur near the C.I.T with the readings on the lower rand of radio frequencies accessible on a common radio, we’ve been able to confirm with reasonable confidence that tracking a Courser with radio signals will allow us to locate a Courser for neutralization. By the time the two of you have recovered in a few days, we should be ready to act”.</p><p>            “Sir, wouldn’t it be more efficient to attack with a battalion of soldiers now while this intelligence is still fresh?” Danse asked.</p><p>            “It’s precisely because this information is so fresh that we aren’t acting on it immediately. There’s no reason to believe that the Institute are aware that we’re aware of their teleportation methods, or that we know how to track Coursers. Once they <em>become</em> aware that we’ve learned their secrets, however, we’ll lose the biggest advantage we currently have over them besides our air superiority. Therefore, for all intents and purposes, we may only have one real shot at our next operation. We need to plan it well”.</p><p>            “Come to think of it,” Nora said weakly, “I don’t think we’re getting a chance to attack with a full battalion at all. If a Courser is as dangerous as Virgil says, it’s probably intelligent enough to just relay back to the Institute or out of danger once it spots us. Battalions of soldiers in power armor aren’t exactly easy to hide”.</p><p>            “You’re absolutely right, Knight,” Elder Maxson said to Danse’s dismay. “Which is why once you recover, I want you, <em>and only you, </em>to undertake this next mission”.</p><p>            “M-Me?” Nora said, stunned.</p><p>            “With all due respect sir, that seems like a one-sided battle,” Danse added. “I have faith in Knight Mulyer’s capabilities, but we’re talking about an Institute killing-machine. These things wipe settlements off the map. Why would we send <em>any</em> soldier by themselves to fight something like that?”</p><p>            “You misunderstand,” Maxson reassured them. “We’ll help you <em>fight</em> the Courser, but you’ll have to <em>track </em>the Courser without the Brotherhood. Paladin, so long as your good health continues, you’ll be discharged tomorrow morning from the infirmary. Once you’ve been cleared for duty by Knight-Captain Cade, you’ll report back to Cambridge Police Station immediately and prep a team of Knights from the base for standby with this mission. While you do this, Knight Mulyer will finish recovering and then begin tracking the Courser”.</p><p>            Maxson turned his eyes to Nora. “Of all the Knights currently at our disposal, you’re the only one from the Commonwealth. Anyone else who joined the Brotherhood after we arrived here is still an Initiate. Because you possess more connections in the Commonwealth than any of our other ranking soldiers, Knight, you’re the best suited candidate to covertly tracking a lone Courser. God willing, you’ll manage to do this during a time when the Courser is engaged and unable to simply teleport or run away. At <em>that </em>point, calling in backup from your brothers and sisters on standby under Danse’s command is more tactically advantageous”.</p><p>            “I understand,” Nora nodded. “You’re right. It’ll be easier to find the Courser if I’m not noticed”.</p><p>            “I’m aware that you have your Vault Suit and a set of unmarked combat armor among your possessions. I’m going to send a scribe to retrieve these items from your footlocker and turn them over to Proctor Teagan for repairs and upgrades”.</p><p>            Maxson raised an eyebrow as he looked down at Nora’s left arm.</p><p>            “Knight, I notice you’re not wearing your Pip-Boy”.</p><p>            “Knight-Captain Cade had me take it off while I was getting treatment”.</p><p>            “I’ll have him retrieve it for you. A transmission came in for you a few hours from the Commonwealth Minutemen. You must have been too indisposed for it”.</p><p>            “The Commonwealth Minutemen sent another message to me?”</p><p>            “A squad of Minutemen stopped by Cambridge waiting for you. I’ve had the Knight-Captain in command there allow the Minutemen to garrison there between now and when Danse makes it to Cambridge. I won’t tell you how to conduct your own men, but the thought occurred to me that you may find the Minutemen to be of more assistance with covert tracking than the Brotherhood”.</p><p>            Maxson looked over at an appalled Danse.</p><p>            “Quit looking at me like that. We both know it’s true. Effective leadership means admitting where we’re at a disadvantage. Besides, as long as the Minutemen aren’t in opposition to our operations in the Commonwealth, I see no reason to stop them from meeting with their own General. Once you’ve recovered, Knight Mulyer, we’ll send you to Cambridge as well. In the meantime, you should co-ordinate with them through your Pip-Boy”.</p><p>            <em>He’s only okay with the Minutemen while he’s able to leave them playing second fiddle to him, </em>Nora heard Nate’s voice echo in her head.</p><p>            <em>Yeah,</em> something else in her responded back. <em>But for right now, what other choice do I have?</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. The Monsters In The Closet</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 23: In which Nora, the Minutemen, and the Brotherhood hunt very dangerous prey.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>THE MONSTERS IN THE CLOSET</h1><p>
  <em>“Be careful of the curse that falls on young lovers/starts so soft and sweet and turns them to hunters/a man who’s pure of heart and says his prayers by night/may still become a wolf when the autumn moon is bright” – Florence and the Machine “Howl”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            “Paladin on base!” Knight-Captain Wilson had yelled into the courtyard, getting everyone’s attention as Paladin Danse stepped out of the Vertibird that carried him to Cambridge and made his way down the stairs to the outside. The Minutemen had been allowed to garrison within a couple of spare rooms in the building on Elder Maxson’s orders when they’d arrived yesterday. Now that Danse was back in Cambridge, they would meet out on the courtyard on equal ground and discuss the Courser. Scribes in charge of monitoring communications coming in and out of Cambridge confirmed that Nora had already sent information to the Minutemen for them to review.</p><p>            <em>They’re getting more organized. Even before they reached Cambridge, they maintained contact with Knight Mulyer.</em></p><p>            It didn’t surprise him. Danse considered leading the Commonwealth Minutemen and unorthodox leadership opportunity for the budding Knight. It had taken him ages to get go from being Knight Danse to Knight-Sergeant (and Knight-Captain, and finally Paladin). Nora definitely had the potential to outdo him: he wasn’t sure whether to be proud or jealous. It had been under her inexperienced command that the radio tower at Outpost Zimonja had been claimed by the Minutemen. Transmissions by the ragtag militia could now be heard from Sanctuary to the Boston Airport, given that Zimonja’s radio tower possessed a powerful transmitter. Brotherhood reconnaissance suggested that the Minutemen were only getting more powerful as their efforts were consolidated. In one year’s time, he wondered if they’d be a respectable force.</p><p>            Or a threat.</p><p>            Nora’s second-in-command was a well-known man by the name of Preston Garvey. Dressed in old-school colonial wear with a foppishly pinned-up hat, Preston’s appearance was downright laughable to the Paladin; this was not a man who conducted himself as a soldier. This was some idealistic whelp playing at being a long-dead pre-War memory.</p><p>            <em>I wonder what Knight Mulyer sees in this man.</em></p><p>            Unbeknownst to Danse, but quickly apparent by the look on Preston’s face, the Minutemen thought little better of the Brotherhood. Preston in particular found them to be a barbaric military force intent on plundering the Commonwealth for their own good before anything else. Sure, they wiped out the occasional super-mutant force, but so much of the Brotherhood’s time was spent on Brotherhood business only.</p><p>            <em>Why’s the General so insistent on continuing with the Brotherhood?</em></p><p>She’d gotten what she needed from them; Nora’s latest transmission from the Prydwen had confirmed this. The Brotherhood had been to the Glowing Sea, found out about Dr. Virgil, and returned with Nora still in one piece. It was baffling to Preston that after this incident, Nora was still at the Boston Airport and not here in Cambridge, returning to the fold. She didn’t seem like the type to just defect from the Minutemen: Preston wondered if the Brotherhood were keeping her there for a reason.</p><p>            The two men now stood face-to-face in the courtyard of the Cambridge Police Station. Despite Preston’s relatively short stature and Danse’s towering form in his power armor frame, laymen of both the Brotherhood and the Minutemen got the strange sense that these were two equals meeting on firm ground, each unwilling to bend an inch for the other.</p><p>            “Paladin Danse”.</p><p>            “Garvey”.</p><p>            “We waited like your people asked. I don’t see the General anywhere”.</p><p>            “She’ll be here in another day or so. In the meantime, we’re going to discuss your co-operation with handling the Courser situation”.</p><p>            “With all due respect, I’d rather discuss things when she’s here. You can’t at least put her on the radio or something?”</p><p>            “Nora Mulyer will return shortly,” Danse insisted, “but what we need to talk about needs to be talked about now, for her sake”.</p><p>            “For her sake?” Preston scoffed. “It’s for her sake that I’d rather she be here”.</p><p>            “If that were true, you’d understand that she’s not been flown to Cambridge yet due to the express need for her to remain at the Prydwen infirmary while she gets all the rads flushed out of her system”.</p><p>            “And is that what she wanted, or did the Brotherhood make that decision for her?”</p><p>            The Brotherhood and Minutemen onlookers waited in anxiety as Preston and Danse continued butting heads. With no sign of either Preston or the Paladin backing down, it appeared that the remaining time for Knight Mulyer to reach the police station was going to be a <em>very</em> long two days.</p><p>#</p><p>            Partially by good fortune, partially because of stubborn resilience, and partially because the arguments between Preston and Danse were getting out of hand, Knight Mulyer was cleared ahead of schedule for her discharge from the infirmary and travel to Cambridge Police Station. Another nighttime Vertibird transport lifted Nora up over the Commonwealth buildings, within range of her new destination.</p><p>            Diamond City in particular looked beautiful at night. The stadium was aglow with the lights and activity characteristic of a functional society. Further out beyond Cambridge, more pockets of activity and civilization could be seen slowly beginning to emerge. The Commonwealth still had life in it yet. Before long, the Vertibird descended unto the helipad on the roof of Cambridge Police Station. Waiting for Nora on the rooftop were both Paladin Danse and Preston Garvey.</p><p>            It was an awkward moment, giving the Brotherhood salute to Danse and then returning the Minutemen salute to Preston. Once Nora was firmly on the roof, the group made their way downstairs to talk. The Minutemen and a few Brotherhood soldiers, including Knight Rhys, were all summoned to the garage of the police station.</p><p>            “Alright, we’re all here,” Nora said after everyone was situated. Despite a couple of the Brotherhood soldiers ranking over here in rank or time served, Nora’s position as the intermediary between the two groups caused her to be expected to take the floor. To keep her position neutral, she’d excused herself while everyone else gathered to change back into her newly upgraded Vault Suit.</p><p>            “Before I start talking, is anyone able to fill me in on the plans so far? You guys did have a bit of time to plan ahead of me”. There was a moment of awkward silence before Knight Rhys decided to break the ice.</p><p>            “No one has a plan”.</p><p>            “What?” Nora asked concernedly.</p><p>            “Sorry Mulyer, not my fault your second-in-command can’t stop arguing with Paladin Danse. Might wanna work on your command skills”.</p><p>            Nora shook her head at Rhys’s jab before looking at Preston, who was already going on the defensive.</p><p>            “You two couldn’t flesh out the details on a plan?”</p><p>            “General, I told you the Brotherhood would only wanna do things their way”.</p><p>            “You Minutemen don’t realize how much leniency we’ve given you with Elder Maxson allowing you to garrison here and participate in our operations, do you Garvey?”</p><p>            “Well go ahead and track the Courser then in that fancy, <em>loud</em> power armor. Good luck looking for a settlement to isolate them in, Danse”.</p><p>            “Guys?” Nora said. Everyone else were either waiting or beginning to bicker themselves.</p><p>            “<em>Paladin </em>Danse”.</p><p>            “Sorry, I was under the impression we were on a last name basis”.</p><p>            “I’ll call you by your rank when you earn one, civilian. And you can’t seriously be suggesting that the Minutemen are going to know what to do with a Courser once you find it. Did you forget which of us has the heavy weapons and armor?”</p><p>            “Guys”.</p><p>            “At least the Minutemen don’t need armor to fight”.</p><p>            “With so little armor I can understand why there’s so few of you…”</p><p>            “Guys!”</p><p>            “Tell ya what, Paladin. If you wanna be the big man at the police station so much, why don’t we have you step out of that power armor and let’s see what you’re capable of”.</p><p>            “Trust me, that’s not going to end well for you. Although quite frankly, this compound is under my command and I’ve half a mind to—”</p><p>            <em>BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG.</em></p><p>Everyone’s attention was drawn back to Nora, who’d taken advantage of the argument to find a metal rod amongst the garage supplies and begin banging it loudly against one of the metal cabinets.</p><p>            “Are you two done acting like children?” She scolded them. Both Preston and Danse began to protest only to quickly be shut down.</p><p>            “No! No! No. I’m not hearing either one of your excuses. I don’t need bickering idiots helping me find my son. Brotherhood and Minutemen be damned, if you two can’t manage to come to an agreement, I’l hold you both at fault and I’ll do this myself!”</p><p>            Paladin Danse scoffed. “You’ll do no such thing!”</p><p>            “And who’s going to stop me, Paladin? <em>You</em>?”</p><p>            “I’m the ranking officer here and I will not have my orders be disobeyed!”</p><p>            “Oh right,” Nora retorted, “did we forget about the part where <em>Elder Maxson’s </em>orders were that the Minutemen oversee tracking the Courser? Who do the Minutemen take orders from, a Paladin of the Brotherhood of Steel, or their <em>fucking General?</em> Or how about that bit where Elder Maxson specifically wants <em>me</em> to track this Courser down? Am I supposed to tell him that you stopped me? I know! Let’s get him on the radio and ask him what he thinks about that!”</p><p>            A few Minutemen, including Preston, chuckled as Paladin Danse struggled to regain rigidity in his jaw. Their laughter quickly turned to fear as a very angry Nora Mulyer switched her attention to them.</p><p>            “And <em>you</em>. Preston, we have the Brotherhood of goddamned Steel willing to put their lives on the line, using up their fusion cores, their guns, their armor! All of this, to help me neutralize an Institute killing machine, and you can’t swallow your pride and compromise with them on a damned plan? Yeah, I know it’s technically ‘their’ war, but who does the Institute hurt? The Commonwealth! The Brotherhood can always fly back to the Capital Wasteland: it’s Minutemen settlements being put to the sword by synths and Coursers and they came here to help stop that! If they can spare a couple Knights with Gatling Guns and all they ask is to get a seat at the planning table, pull them up a chair!”</p><p>            “Brotherhood of goddamned Steel…” the Knights were chuckling. Knight Rhys seemed positively impressed.</p><p>            “Sorry General,” Preston said apologetically, barely able to look Nora in the eye.</p><p>“I guess I let my pride get the best of me on this one…”</p><p>            “I…” Danse muttered, choking on the words. “…shouldn’t have permitted my personal prejudices to get in the way of the mission. Sorry”.</p><p>#</p><p>            After everyone had gotten a moment to defuse, Nora called the meeting into order.</p><p>            “Alright, let’s try this again, ladies and gentlemen,” she sighed. This time, she had everyone’s undivided attention.</p><p>            “As you’re all aware, just for the benefit of anyone who skim-read the reports, we have insider knowledge on how to find an Institute Courser. Coursers get teleported unto the surface via the Institute teleporter and then proceed to run missions. We can use radio signals to track the interference their hardware causes and pinpoint their location. From there, we’ll call in the Brotherhood so we have reinforcements on cornering and killing the Courser. Everyone with me so far?”</p><p>            “So far so good, but I’ve got to ask, General, how are we going to make sure that we don’t startle or lose the Courser?” A female Minutemen posed the first question. “These things are murder monsters, and they can teleport away if they feel threatened. That’s not going to easy to track, and it sounds like we’re not going to get a lot of opportunities at this. I’ve tracked bears and wild dogs before, but this is different”.</p><p>            “I had a lot of time to think about this while I was in the infirmary,” Nora nodded before looking at Knight Rhys.</p><p>            “Ever fired a Fat-Man, Rhys?”</p><p>            “What’s <em>that</em> got to do with anything?”</p><p>            “Humor me. I’m going somewhere with this. Have you ever fired a Fat-Man?”</p><p>            “Of course”.</p><p>            “Great. Where is it?”</p><p>            “<em>Where is it?</em>” Rhys rolled his eyes. Paladin Danse moved to interrupt Nora’s line of questioning only to get the response “<em>trust me</em>”.</p><p>            “Well, <em>obviously</em>, it’s locked up under high security in the armory”.</p><p>            “You don’t carry it with you?”</p><p>            “What kind of question is that? Why would I risk such a valuable weapon just carrying it around everywhere? It’s not a pistol”.</p><p>            “<em>Bingo</em>,” Nora nodded. A few people, including Preston, immediately followed the logic. Danse and Rhys remained clueless, awaiting Nora’s explanation.</p><p>            “Think about it. Paladin, you were with me when Virgil explained what Coursers are. The primary weapon of choice for the Institute are their synths, but there’s all different kinds of synths used in all different kinds of situations, just like how we use different guns for different situations. If one of those plastic synths is a regular weapon --- a pistol --- imagine a Courser as an Institute Fat-Man”.</p><p>            “They wouldn’t just bring a Courser out until it’s needed,” Danse surmised. “Sounds like you have a way to <em>exploit</em> that”.</p><p>            “Exactly. You can’t fire a weapon at more than one threat at once”.</p><p>            She glanced back over at the Minutemen. “What I’m saying is that even when we <em>find</em> the Courser, we wait. We wait until it gets busy with whatever it’s supposed to be doing. If my Fat-Man analogy is accurate, they’ll only send a Courser out to places where the shit is hitting the fan, kinda like how we had to send MacCready out to Outpost Zimonja to blow up all the raiders with <em>our</em> Fat-Man”.</p><p>            “So we wait until the Courser is right in the thick of it,” the female Minuteman said.</p><p>            “Right,” Nora said, looking at Preston. “We sent MacCready to Outpost Zimonja alone because he could handle himself in the thick of it. There’s seven Minutemen here, not including me. Six of us will split up into groups of two and start searching the area around the C.I.T for a signal. The seventh person will stay here and help co-ordinate our search”.</p><p>            Nora pointed at the youngest Minuteman in the group, a teenaged boy who couldn’t have been more than twenty.</p><p>            “Can you work a radio?”</p><p>            “Yes ma’am”.</p><p>            “Great. You get the desk job. Paladin, do you have a map of the area around the C.I.T?”</p><p>            Paladin Danse laughed. “I have <em>several</em> maps of that area”.</p><p>            “Maybe we could borrow a scribe to assist?”</p><p>            “That can be arranged, Knight”.</p><p>            “Outstanding,” she parroted, before looking over the other six Minutemen. “Preston and Melissa, you form one pair. Thomson and I will form a pair. Reinhardt and Everett will form the third pair. Once one of us finds the Courser’s location --- we’ll call it the ‘birdie’, we’ll communicate to our radio hub. The other two groups will converge near the location until we’re sure the Courser’s good and engaged with whatever it came up here for”.</p><p>            “Birdie in the nest,” the young radio-operator grinned.</p><p>            “That! See, I like that! It’s cute and we all know what it means”.</p><p>            “So what happens once the proverbial bird is in the nest,” Danse asked.</p><p>            “Easy. When we know where the birdie is, the Brotherhood will get into striking distance. When the bird is in the nest, Preston, Everett, and I will all get the drop on the Courser while it’s busy. The others will make sure the Brotherhood seals off every possible point of exit. From there, everyone closes in until we choke that bird to death”.</p><p>            “Great plan,” Knight Rhys commended her before adding, “but these things can teleport, right? If you three try and corner it, how do you know it won’t just ‘poof’ away?”</p><p>            “I thought about too,” Nora said. “This was the hardest part of the plan to factor for until I realized something Virgil didn’t tell us”.</p><p>            “I knew that slimy super mutant bastard was hiding something,” Danse muttered.</p><p>            “I don’t think he was hiding this from us, Danse. I think he didn’t know”.</p><p>            “Didn’t know what?”</p><p>            “Virgil said that teleportation is a very closely guarded secret, right? The Institute seems to <em>run</em> on secrets. I think we can exploit their secrecy for combat gain”.</p><p>            “Go on…” Preston said.</p><p>            “Okay, so teleportation is one secret. Coursers are another secret. The Institute only sends Coursers up to the surface for big operations like seeking out renegade synths. Who knows what kind of secrets those renegade synths happen to have? Hell, Virgil knew enough where he had to hide in the Glowing Sea. If you think about it, a Courser is really just an Institute secret-keeper, and if Coursers are even mildly intelligent, it’s going to realize once we corner it that we were tracking it”.</p><p>            “In order for us to even track it, we’ll already be establishing ourselves as knowing too much. Now do you think a combat-grade, Fat-Man level of danger, Institute secret-keeper is just going to want to teleport away and leave all of us to spread that secret?”</p><p>            “It’s going to want to silence us,” Thomson realized.</p><p>            “It’s going to <em>want</em> to fight,” Nora elaborated. “If we corner it right in the middle of a fight, it won’t have any other choice. Let’s also consider the fact we’re taking all of these extra precautions because we can be assured that the Institute’s eyes are going to be on that Courser. As Knight Rhys alluded earlier, that kind of powerful weaponry is something you’d tend to keep track of. If the Courser lives, the Institute’s safe. If the Courser dies, it’s safe to say the Institute’ll find out”.</p><p>            “Alright,” Knight Rhys nodded. “I’ll admit it. This seems like an air-tight plan. I wasn’t expecting that from you”.</p><p>            “Oh ha-ha,” Nora rolled her eyes, half-smiling. “Glad to impress. Now, lets go over it again just to make sure we’re all on the same page”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Once the group had gotten enough time to rest and the sun had risen, the Minutemen began the trek to the C.I.T. Preston’s group diverted to the north. Everett’s group traveled to the east. Nora and Thomson stayed close to the riverbank. Back at Cambridge Police Station, Paladin Danse and the Knights under his command positioned themselves on the rooftop, waiting for the signal. Inside, Haylen helped the Minuteman radio operator, a black-haired young man by the name of Mullet, to track the Minutemen’s findings.</p><p>            “I’m not picking anything up, Mullet,” Preston echoed. The static on the lower bands of the radio spectrum wasn’t promising.</p><p>            “There’s a faint beeping here by the shoreline, but it’s not anything impressive,” Nora added.</p><p>            Scribe Haylen and Mullet singled out possible paths of travel on the map.</p><p>            “Everett Group, report”.</p><p>            “We’re getting beeping. We’re trying to navigate around raider outposts”.</p><p>            “Preston, Nora, neither of you are that far from Everett. Start moving east or north and let’s see if you can find anything better. Everett, try and find a safe place to bunker down and keep track of the beeping”.</p><p>            “We’re just east of the campus, by one of the administration buildings. The one with the round roof, half collapsed”.</p><p>            “How’s the beeping?”</p><p>            “Consistent”.</p><p>            “The Courser might already be engaged,” Scribe Haylen said, overseeing Mullet’s work. “Ask them if they hear gunfire”.</p><p>            “None, Mullet. Fuck, I hope it doesn’t already know we’re coming”.</p><p>            “We’re only picking up faint beeping,” Preston said.</p><p>            “Ours is getting stronger,” Nora responded. Mullet and Haylen adjusted their map to review possible hiding places for the Courser”.</p><p>            “There’s a department store further east of all of you, and there’s the old Greenetech Genetics building that’s still standing closeby”.</p><p>            “Greenetech Genetics?” Preston said. “That’s that green skyscraper, right? We’ll start heading that way”.</p><p>            “Beeping’s still steady,” Everet broadcasted. “We might have just found a clear path closer to Greenetech”.</p><p>            “Our beeping is still getting stronger,” Nora grinned, “and we’re getting closer to the building too”.</p><p>            “It’s a good landmark,” Mullet chuckled. “Everyone converge there. Maybe the bird’ll get louder”.</p><p>            “Just be careful,” Preston advised everyone. “I hear Gunners operate in that area”.</p><p>            After several minutes, Everett group began broadcasting frequently.</p><p>            “Mullet! This bird is singing! We’re right outside Greenetech!”</p><p>            “Is anyone else able to confirm that?” Mullet asked.</p><p>            “Oh yeah, I can definitely hear it too,” Preston said. “We’re almost at Greenetech”.</p><p>            “I can see Everett up ahead,” Nora said, “and our radio is going crazy”.</p><p>            “If it’s in Greenetech with the Gunners, we need to hurry!” Scribe Haylen mentioned. “It’s already started working”.</p><p>            “Birdie’s in the nest,” Mullet radioed. “Strike team, take flight towards Greenetech. Commence phase two”.</p><p>            Per the plan, Preston, Nora, and Everett all entered the building while the remaining Minutemen surveyed the building’s outside.</p><p>            “There’s no safe place to land,” Danse advised. “We’ll remain around the building while you scope out the situation. The longer we fly, the more attention we attract, so double-time it and let us know if we need to drop down”.</p><p>#</p><p>            “Holy shit,” Preston gasped once they entered the building.</p><p>            The Greenetech Genetics building, once known to be swarming with Gunners, was the site of an absolute massacre. The only Gunners remaining within sight of the Minutemen group were all corpses, gunned down with a laser weapon with outrageous precision.</p><p>            “The Courser’s on the second floor,” a voice said over the intercom. “Send reinforcements to the lobby in case there are more!”</p><p>            “We better hurry,” Preston said. “We can take out the Gunner reinforcements and catch it right in the middle of the firefight”.</p><p>            “Mullet, come in,” Nora whispered hastily. “The target is headed upstairs in the building. Land the Vertibird wherever you can get it and have the Brotherhood follow us up!”</p><p>            “Copy that Nora. Strike team, did you hear that?”</p><p>            “We’ve already got a plan,” Danse said over the radio. “We’re sending soldiers in behind you, but start following the mark and let me know if it gets to the top floor”.</p><p>            “Understood!”</p><p>            The Gunners who’d made it into the lobby were gunned down unexpectedly quick. As the Minutemen pressed on to the interior of the building, Preston remarked that the Gunners looked badly wounded.</p><p>            “They’ve already barricaded a lot of the building off,” Everett added. “Probably trying to keep the Courser on a certain line of fire. We need to be care—”</p><p>            The floor around them rocked as something <em>loud</em> exploded one floor above them.</p><p>            “They have fucking missile launchers,” Everett said in disbelief, “and this thing is still kicking their asses…”</p><p>            Little resistance was Nora continued and the Minutemen continued to climb up the stairs. The Gunner radio operator working on the building’s intercom maintained everyone’s position.</p><p>            “The Courser is now on the third floor! Reports of a second intruder below are coming in! How many are we dealing with?”</p><p>            “Looks like we’re still going to have to pick off some of the defenses,” Preston grumbled gunning down machine turrets and the occasional Gunner coming out of hiding from behind a barricade.</p><p>            “Let’s try hard not to let them slow us down. That thing moves fas—"</p><p>            BANG.</p><p>            An emerging Gunner, in the process of pulling the pin on a grenade, was promptly struck down by laser rifle fire. The Brotherhood had made it into the building.</p><p>            “There’s one less of you than I remember,” Nora quickly told the Brotherhood as they caught up. All of the power armor suits so far were decorated with Knight rank insignia.</p><p>            <em>Where’s Danse?</em></p><p>            “Top’s busy,” Knight Rhys said. “You’re not the only one with surprise ideas”.</p><p>            “As long as it gets us what we need,” Nora said quickly. With reinforcements, her group had now firmly made it to the third floor. Mowing down what remained of the Gunner forces defending the staircases was outrageously with the Brotherhood around. The sole challenge was a Gunner towards the third floor holding a missile launcher, who was quickly caught off guard once Rhys approached the front of the group and unloaded on her with a Gatling gun.</p><p>            “Nice try, bitch,” he said triumphantly.</p><p>            “Hurry! The Courser’s already gone!”</p><p>            “The Courser’s after the girl! Anyone still alive needs to head to the top floor!” The voice over the intercom shouted, “that’s an order!”</p><p>            “It’s up to the top,” Preston surmised, “damn that thing is quick”.</p><p>            “<em>Girl?</em>” Knight Rhys asked. He didn’t get an answer.</p><p>            “Mullet,” Everett remembered, “tell the Brotherhood Paladin guy that the Courser’s on the top floor!”</p><p>            “Copy that!” Danse could be heard yelling. “I’m going as fast as I can!”</p><p>            <em>Whatever he’s doing I hope it’s worth it,</em> Nora groaned, as the group reached the base of an express elevator to the top floor.</p><p>            “Damn, either the Gunners or the Courser shut off the power,” Preston said, trying to get into the elevator.</p><p>            “I’ve got it,” Rhys said, getting to a nearby terminal. Everyone watched in awe as he cracked the terminal with just a few quick keystrokes.</p><p>            “What, didn’t think a jarhead like me could crack a terminal?” Rhys bragged, “You’d be amazed what being friends with the scribes’ll do”.</p><p>            The group rushed unto the elevator and waited with bated breath for the elevator to reach the top floor.</p><p>            “I’m telling you! I don’t know the password!”</p><p>            A single gunshot rang out right as the elevator doors began to open.</p><p>            “All he had to do was tell me the—”</p><p>            The Courser, dressed in a black coat reminiscent of a coat someone was wearing in Nora’s first dream about Nate, stopped talking and turned around to face the group of soldiers. From the window of the locked experimentation bay, everyone could see a frightened young woman panicking at the prospect of the Courser outside.</p><p>            “Are you here for the synth?” The Courser asked.</p><p>            “We’re on a need-to-know basis,” Nora said, “and you don’t need to know”.</p><p>            “Suit yourself,” the Courser said, lowering his gun.</p><p>            Before anyone could react, Rhys began firing at the sinister Courser, who suddenly turned invisible.</p><p>            “I’ve never seen anyone turn a Stealth Boy on that fast!” Rhys cried.</p><p>            “You’ll die like the rest of them…” the Courser’s voice echoed sinisterly.</p><p>            Scattered laser shots with the iconic blue Institute hue fired all around the building. Nora could see a few grenades materialize as the Courser began to break the group up.</p><p>            <em>He’s going to kill us all by breaking us apart</em>, Nora worried, noticing that even the Brotherhood soldiers were having trouble. The Courser moved so fast that none of the shots anyone was firing off were landing. Preston, who was armed with a slow-to-fire laser musket, was essentially rendered useless as he was trapped behind the cover of the elevator door, cranking away at his weapon. Everyone watched in horror as the Courser’s invisible form revealed itself by grabbing a fully power-armored Brotherhood soldier and slamming them into the walls with ease. That soldier fell to the ground, motionless. The Gatling laser the soldier was using disappeared into view as the Courser picked it up.</p><p>            “He’s going to unload on us all! Get behind something!”</p><p>            There was no time to react. Those among the Brotherhood, with their heavy armor, barely managed to turn around and shield their vital points from the onslaught of Gatling laser fire. Everett cried out in pain and crumpled to the floor as laser shots hit his arms and legs. Preston had ducked in time to avoid the blast.</p><p>            Nora had been caught mid-blink by a searing pain across her face as one of the lasers struck the side of her head.</p><p>            “General!”</p><p>            <em>Fuck!</em></p><p>She felt a suit of power-armor grab her and inject her cheek with a Stimpak almost immediately. She could still see, but her vision was blurry. She wasn’t sure if it was the pain or damage done from the laser.</p><p>            She could feel a sudden thud from somewhere. No one else seemed to notice.</p><p>            The Courser’s Stealth Boy wore off, and his malevolent visage could be seen standing above the raised platform by the rooftop door. He was spinning up the Gatling laser for another round of fire. The door behind him suddenly opened to reveal an angry Paladin with a Gatling laser of his own.</p><p>            “Godless heathen!”</p><p>            The force of Danse’s already charged Gatling was concentrated directly on the Courser’s back, knocking the synth forward and over the balcony. The stolen Gatling was out of reach. Before the Courser could react, a fully-charged laser musket shot suddenly caught it clean between the eyes, and it fell forward, dead.</p><p>            “Jesus Christ!” Everett yelled in pain. Thankfully, the lasers which had hit him had missed the most vital areas. “It can’t be dead that easily! One shot?!”</p><p>            “And a nasty surprise from me,” Danse muttered disdainfully.</p><p>            “I got lucky,” Preston added matter-of-factly. “And I got it right between the eyes, and my musket just got upgraded to six cranks, which is an awful lot of energy”.</p><p>            “It was an admirable shot, Garvey,” Danse remarked. “I’m impressed”.</p><p>            Preston looked up at Danse, who was still standing on the platform where the Courser once was.</p><p>            “Well, I only got it because of you”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Three Men Order Drinks In A Bar In Goodneighbor</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 24: In which three men order drinks in a bar in Goodneighbor.</p><p>Okay seriously: in which Nora revisits Goodneighbor to check in with a certain doctor.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A little comic relief never hurt anyone. Neither will this leaked footage I discovered about everyone's favorite Paladin, while I was searching for inspiration.</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_J57e7Wpcw</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>THREE MEN ORDER DRINKS AT A BAR IN GOODNEIGHBOR</h1><p>
  <em>“Give me reasons we should be complete/you should be with him, I can’t compete/You looked at me like I was someone else (oh well)” – Joji “Slow Dancing in the Dark”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            With the Courser chip in hand, it seemed both the Brotherhood and the Minutemen finally had something to celebrate. Miraculously, neither side had fatalities. Everett and the Brotherhood soldier who’d been slammed into the wall would need to be hospitalized, and one side of Nora’s face was burned enough to elicit concern from Preston and Danse. Tensions and emotions were high as the group dealt with the reality of what they’d just done, half expecting an army of Institute synths to suddenly teleport into the building and wipe them out.</p><p>            Their biggest problem wasn’t their injured, nor was it the threat of the Institute trying to silence. In the midst of taking in everything else that was going on, no one seemed to notice Knight Rhys hack into the next terminal and open the door containing the Courser’s target. Nora herself was still trying to pry herself away from Preston and Danse so they could examine the dead Courser’s neck for the chip. Despite its brutal demeanor, the black-clad hunter looked disturbingly human.</p><p>            “Thank you!” She said to him. “I don’t know what to say”.</p><p>            “Hey, girl,” Rhys said darkly. “Who are you?”</p><p>            “M-my Institute designation is K1-98, but I prefer Jenny”.</p><p>            Her voice lowered. “So yes, I’m a synth, if you haven’t already noticed…”</p><p>            Without a moment’s hesitation, Knight Rhys just smiled.</p><p>            “Good enough for me”.</p><p>            The next sound that could be heard was a loud <em>bang</em> as Knight Rhys put his rifle point-blank to Jenny’s head and fired two shots into her skull. Preston reacted first, yelling at Rhys in horror.</p><p>            “What the hell?! She was just some woman!”</p><p>            “Knight,” Paladin Danse yelled, “why’d you just shoot that civilian?!”</p><p>            “Fuckin’ bleeding heart Minutemen,” Knight Rhys rolled his eyes, walking emotionlessly to the mess on the wall and rummaging through the pieces of brain. After a moment, he found what he was looking for, producing a bloodied plastic chip from what was once K1-98’s gray matter.</p><p>            Nora gulped.</p><p>            “My god,” she whispered, “they look so real…”</p><p>            “I see,” Danse said, satisfied with Rhys’s decision-making. “Good job, Knight”.</p><p>            “Good job?” Preston said in disgust. “<em>Good job?! </em>He just murdered that girl!”</p><p>            “And you people wonder why the Brotherhood think you’re weak,” Rhys shook his head. “Don’t you know what a synth is? You can’t seriously be defending this thing, it’s not even human!”</p><p>            “She didn’t pose a threat to us. It was the Courser we wanted! You couldn’t have just let her walk away?”</p><p>            “Preston, are you insane?” It was Everett speaking now, trying to pull himself up to a sitting position against the nearest wall. “How do we know that synth wasn’t just one of the Institute infiltrators?”</p><p>            “If she were one of the Institute’s puppets, why the hell would there have been a Courser here? Think about it!”</p><p>            “I don’t care if she was running!” Everett retorted. “She was Institute. That made her a problem”.</p><p>            “That kind of paranoia’s dangerous, though! General, Everett, don’t you remember what happened at Covenant?”</p><p>            “Covenant?” Danse asked Nora.</p><p>            “I’ll explain later,” she shook her head, before looking at Preston.</p><p>            “Preston, I need you to stop”.</p><p>            “General! He shot that woman!”</p><p>            “I know, Preston”. She swallowed her own hidden contempt for the situation, choosing her next words carefully.</p><p>            She walked up to him and put one hand on his shoulder, feeling Preston flinch for a moment. His eyes softened slightly as she looked up at him. Emotions were running high. She could see his eyes wander around the curves of her face, lingering on her injury for a moment with some unknown emotion.</p><p>            Fear? Guilt? Worry?</p><p>            She sighed.</p><p>            “Preston…why don’t we talk about this later? We can’t undo any of this now, and we have living injured on our own side to deal with”.</p><p>            “That’s your excuse?” He almost recoiled in horror at her. “When did you start talking like one of <em>them?</em>”</p><p>            “Well, she is one of us,” Paladin Danse said coldly. “Didn’t you pick up on this yet?”</p><p>            “You can’t be serious,” Preston spat. “We’re supposed to be the good guys, General. Did watching him shoot that woman feel good to you?”</p><p>            “Of course not”.</p><p>            Before anyone in the Brotherhood (or Everett) could react to her borderline sacrilegious response, Nora added: “I don’t take pleasure in killing threats. I do it because it has to be done”.</p><p>            “Good answer,” Everett sighed.</p><p>            “If you say so,” Nora said, changing the subject. “We got what we came here for. Let’s get back to Cambridge. We’re done here”.</p><p>#</p><p>            K1-98’s grizzly death at the hands of the Brotherhood left Nora Mulyer awake at night in her bunk in Cambridge. The evening after arriving back at Cambridge had been spent with commendations from both the Brotherhood and the Minutemen for calculating a plan that had resulted in both factions co-operating together with no fatalities. Even Preston, who regarded Nora with a slightly frosty reception after the events at Greenetech, still gave her praise for all the good that had been done at Greenetech. Nora’s only real critic was herself.</p><p>            Most of the Minutemen were at least somewhat in agreement regarding Rhys’s handling of the K1-98 situation, but Preston and Mullet were vocal dissenters. The Brotherhood paid this transgression no mind, considering that the Minutemen’s squabbles over the matter came from a small minority of the total group, and were not visibly supported by the only person in the group whose opinion really mattered.</p><p>            In private, however, Nora found her values at question. Yes, K1-98 was a synth…but Jenny had done nothing to warrant such a horrible death. The Brotherhood’s hatred of the Institute akin to what had happened in Covenant, with Nora privately explaining to Danse her story about the situation at Covenant. To Danse, she’d merely justified Covenant as being too great a loss of human life to justify the ends; she knew enough about Danse to know that this explanation was the only safe answer.</p><p>            She also knew enough about Preston to realize that he was completely <em>right</em> about K1-98. The Brotherhood’s fatal flaw was that there weren’t enough people like Preston: worse, they’d chew up people like Preston and spit them out before they could do any real good. To make matters worse, Elder Maxson had announced over the radio that he planned to send Brotherhood forces to Weston Water Treatment Plant and to West Everett Estates --- two super-mutant hives --- in order to clear the way for the Minutemen to integrate nearby settlements there with less danger. It had been announced to Nora and Preston by the Elder as ‘compensation’ for the Minutemen’s involvement in the Courser operation. Deep down, Nora wondered if that were <em>all</em> that it was.</p><p>            The next day, after getting up early to shave the side of her head that had been burned by the Gatling laser, Nora received more orders from the Prydwen regarding the ultimate fate of the Courser chip. While the original plan was to turn the Courser chip over to Proctor Quinlan for analysis, concerns arose over the difficulty of acquiring a second chip. A noticeable halt in Courser activity was noted at various Brotherhood listening posts stationed around the Commonwealth, beginning within minutes of the death of the Courser whose chip was now in Nora’s possession.</p><p>            “Your plan was <em>too</em> impressive, Knight,” Elder Maxson had told her. “I sincerely doubt the Institute will allow us an opportunity to use such a plan a second time. Therefore, our sole chance at decrypting the data on that Courser chip must rely on someone with prior knowledge of Institute hardware. Only one such person exists on our records. Paladin Danse tells me that you’re already familiar with Dr. Amari of Goodneighbor”.</p><p>            Despite the fact that the Brotherhood were disliked in Goodneighbor, the Elder had insisted that Danse accompany Nora in plain clothes. The Brotherhood distrusted Goodneighbor as much as Goodneighbor disliked them, leaving Elder Maxson with no intention of allowing Nora to go alone. The Minutemen would leave to return to the work of networking settlements while Danse and Nora travelled to Goodneighbor.</p><p>            They were meant to go alone, but Nora had other plans. While Preston was packing his things to return to Sanctuary, Nora managed to catch an opportunity to corner him alone. He still seemed upset with her.</p><p>            “I thought you and Paladin Danse were leaving for Goodneighbor to get that chip taken care of,” Preston said smugly. “Don’t worry, I won’t get in your way”.</p><p>            “Actually, Preston, I need your help”.</p><p>            “My help?” The disdain in his voice was palpable. “Why me? I’m not Brotherhood”.</p><p>            “You’re right. You’re a Minuteman, Garvey”.</p><p>            He seemed rather taken aback by her response as she walked over to him and touched his shoulder. Deep down, he was still conflicted. Nora Mulyer had been one of the most amazing women he’d ever met, and the thought that she was falling in with the Brotherhood and away from the Minutemen --- away from him --- put her on something of a broken pedestal for him. The part of him that had idealized her felt let down by her apparent lack of concern over the actions of the Brotherhood.</p><p>            And yet, he found himself falling for her again as he looked into her brunette eyes. Even now, with a burn marring her cheek, a half-shaved head, and Brotherhood fatigues in place of her usual Vault Suit, he wanted to believe she was still the same Nora. Although she didn’t realize his feelings for her, part of her wanted to believe in this too. The whole reason she was asking for Preston’s help was because she knew the Brotherhood’s worst impulses had to be kept in line. This was especially true in a place like Goodneighbor.</p><p>            “There’s no easy way to deal with the Brotherhood”. Nora leaned in close, standing on her tip-toes to the point where she was almost leaning against Preston. Her lips grazed against his earlobe in her efforts to make her whispers intelligible to him. At the end of the day, Cambridge Police Station was still Brotherhood of Steel territory. Anything even remotely controversial to them had to be said in hushed tones and behind closed doors. Preston’s brain gave thanks to the thickness of his clothing while something else within his mind begged him not to start daydreaming. Having the General this close was making his imagination run wild.</p><p>            “They can do as much good for the Commonwealth as they can bad though. They killed that poor girl, but we have ended the same way via Courser if the Brotherhood hadn’t been around. I think we can both agree that they’re not leaving the Commonwealth for a while, right?”</p><p>            “Not until they get their war,” Preston said quietly, hoping that this was the truth. He feared the alternative much more.</p><p>            “So since they’re not going anywhere, we need to make sure to keep the good and negate the bad. They can fight a war, but they can’t maintain the peace, Preston. That’s your job. That’s why I need you to come with me”.</p><p>            He couldn’t help himself anymore. Dropping a bag of provisions that he had been putting away, he felt both his arms wrap around Nora instinctively and wrap her into a tight hug. As much as he hated to admit it, she was right. For better or worse, the Brotherhood weren’t going anywhere, and even though he despised having to co-operate with them, Nora Mulyer was right. It was their only choice.</p><p>            “Um… Preston? You’re squishing me”.</p><p>            He snapped back to reality before letting go.</p><p>            “Sorry General. I’ve had a lot on my mind”.</p><p>            “I-its fine”. She was blushing herself, not out of affection for him, but because she hadn’t been held like that since Nate. Preston grabbing her like that, almost caressing her, just tore her heart open. With the stress of all that was happening, she would have done the same to Nate if only he were here.</p><p>#</p><p>            Nora, Danse, and Preston all left Cambridge later that evening on route to Goodneighbor.  Danse and Nora kept a couple of Vertibird signal grenades in case of an emergency, but all other Brotherhood accoutrements were left at Cambridge. As much as Danse was visibly upset to leave behind even his holotags and power-armor, the need for secrecy trumped all else on this mission. The group even walked to Taffington Boathouse on foot with Danse wearing a military cap and armored gunner attire.</p><p>            “We need to double-time it if we’re going to Goodneighbor,” Danse mumbled. “I feel so…exposed…like this”.</p><p>            “Where we’re going, they only take civilians,” Nora reminded him, “and most civilians don’t run around in full power armor”.</p><p>            “I <em>did not </em>miss civilian life,” Danse mumbled.</p><p>            “I thought you Brotherhood types were born and raised that way,” Preston said.</p><p>            “It hasn’t been that way for a long time,” Danse said. “I wish I <em>had</em> been born into the Brotherhood, but once upon a time I was a Rivet City scavver. Still, I suppose for this mission, that’s a good thing. I’ll just have to try and remember how I used to conduct myself before…well. Everything”.</p><p>            “Oh man, Paladin Danse as a scavver from Rivet City? This is gonna be good…” Preston laughed.</p><p>            “We can’t exactly call you Paladin while we’re in Goodneighbor, Danse,” Nora said sweetly. “Taffington Boathouse is Minutemen territory, but we’re just stopping there for the night”.</p><p>            “Why not just head straight to Goodneighbor?”</p><p>            “You really wanna head into Goodneighbor at night?” Preston asked. “We already all know we ought to watch our backs. Of course, only the General’s ever been, but…”</p><p>            “…we need to watch our backs,” Nora said curtly. A moment later, she looked back at Danse.</p><p>            “So, is Danse your only name?”</p><p>            “I’m sorry?”</p><p>            “I know not everyone has a surname anymore,” Nora said. “Haylen told me she’s just Haylen. Rhys’s first name is Anton. What about you?”<br/>            Paladin Danse was silent for a moment before finally mumbling, “my first name is Saul”.</p><p>            “Saul Danse,” Nora admired.</p><p>            “Saul <em>Johnfield</em> Danse,” the Paladin added. “If you’re going to know my name, I guess you might as well know all of it”.</p><p>            “Well look at Mr. Fancy-Pants over here with the middle name,” Preston laughed.</p><p>            “Only my parents called me that,” Danse said defensively. “So it’s not something I like to remember. Even most of the Brotherhood don’t know that’s my real name. I only ever signed the paperwork as Danse”.</p><p>            “And you’ll be entering Goodneighbor as Saul Johnfield,” Nora added. “Probably safer we not use what the Brotherhood normally call you at all while we’re there”.</p><p>            “I suppose you’re right, Mulyer”.</p><p>            “If it makes you feel better, I have a middle name too,” Nora added, piquing Danse’s interest. “It’s Elisa”.</p><p>            “Huh. Pretty name,” Danse remarked, before blushing a bit and walking back his comment. “Sorry, General. Hardly appropriate”.</p><p>            “It’s fine,” an oblivious Nora said before adding, “oh god, it’s better than my maiden name. Before I married Nate, my last name was Trout”.</p><p>            “I don’t get it,” Preston said, while Danse laughed.</p><p>            “Like the pre-War fish?! Alright, that’s funny”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Taffington Boathouse had been converted to a water-purification facility. A couple of settlers maintained the farm and bottled water for transport to other settlements. Nora, Preston, and Danse, all stayed on the lower floor for the night before making their way to Goodneighbor early the next morning.</p><p>            The city was its usual self, filled to the brim with drug addicts, down-on-their-luck citizens of the Commonwealth, and the mob. Danse couldn’t have walked into the Memory Den fast enough.</p><p>            <em>The sooner we get the data, the sooner we go back.</em></p><p>            “Dr. Amari?” Nora asked. Irma directed the group to the basement where Dr. Amari was putting away books in her laboratory.</p><p>            “You’re back!” Amari exclaimed. “The Glowing Sea? Virgil? What happened?”</p><p>            “We found Virgil,” Nora explained quickly. Preston and Danse both kept out of the discussion. “He told us we needed the code off of a Courser chip, so we found one. Can you help us?”</p><p>            “Courser chip?! You fought a Courser? Oh my!” Amari was amazed. Once she’d settled down, she explained the bad news.</p><p>            “Sadly, I can’t help you. I’ve worked on a lot of synths, but never a Courser. I don’t know what that chip does, much less how to decode it”.</p><p>            “Surely you must know someone who can help m—”</p><p>            “Hey doc!” A familiar voice suddenly interjected. A young man with a goatee was helping Amari carry books in from downstairs.</p><p>            “MacCready?!” Preston explained. Nora turned around in amazement. MacCready’s contract with the Minutemen had ended around the time Nora had returned from the Prydwen to Cambridge Police Station. She hadn’t expected to see him remain in the Commonwealth with family still in the Capital Wasteland.</p><p>            “Preston! Nora!” MacCready put down the books to shake hands with them both. “Fancy runnin’ into you two again!” While the group reunited, an increasingly anxious Danse sighed and leant against the wall.</p><p>            “I really hope this doesn’t get in the way of our mission…” he mumbled. MacCready seemed to hear Danse, breaking away from the conversation between himself and the two Minutemen to look at Danse.</p><p>            “So, how much did she sucker you into the Minutemen for?” MacCready asked Danse.</p><p>            “Huh?”</p><p>            “C’mon, you’re obviously a merc. Hell, you look like you ran with the Gunners too at some point, but…I’ve never seen you around before”.</p><p>            “What makes you think I ever affiliated with the Gunners, of all people?”<br/>            “The ‘don’t fuck with me’ attitude and the green outfit?” MacCready asked.</p><p>            “Well, no. I’m from Rivet City,” Danse said calmly.</p><p>            “No way! I’m from Little Lamplight! Oh god, if you’re from Rivet City, don’t tell me you used to run with the Brotherhood of Steel! God, that explains the stick up your ass!”</p><p>            MacCready changed the subject, “Fuck it, we don’t get to meet up with friends and compatriots every day, let’s say we all go get drinks when I’m done here! I’ll buy!”</p><p>            “Sure, after you’re done working,” Nora smiled. “I just need to finish up with Dr. Amari”.</p><p>            “The boys can leave now,” Dr. Amari said hastily. “As a matter of fact, it’s <em>best</em> they leave. General, we need to talk alone”.</p><p>            Danse moved to resist only to be dragged away by MacCready (who was too enthusiastic not to take his early leave), and Preston (who had already realized that Danse’s cover had just been blown).</p><p>            “I need you to understand something,” Dr. Amari told Nora once the three men had assuredly reached the top of the stairs. “The Brotherhood pose a serious threat to my contacts. Nick Valentine vouched for you, but some of your other friends may not share the same motivations. I work with a group of people trying to save runaway synths from the Institute called the Railroad, and if you go to meet with them, your friend shouldn’t be there”.</p><p>            “I can understand the need for discretion,” Nora said, remembering the recent incident involving K1-98. “considering he couldn’t have a conversation for ten minutes in Goodneighbor before being found out, and he probably doesn’t even know it yet, he definitely won’t be coming with me”.</p><p>            “It’s more than that. If I’m going to tell you what I know, I’m going to need you to promise me you won’t disclose their location to anyone else. I’m telling you what I know only because I truly believe you need their help”.</p><p>            “I won’t betray your contacts to the Brotherhood for helping synths, Dr. Amari. I promise”.</p><p>            “I believe you. Now, I work for a group called the Railroad”.</p><p>            “How do I find them?”</p><p>            “That’s the problem,” Dr. Amari said. “I don’t actually know where they’re based out of. When the Railroad need me, they come to me, not the other way around. It’s not often, but they usually show up with a synth in need of new memories. One of the easiest ways to help hide synths from the Institute is to give them a new identity. That includes changing their appearance and giving them memories of a life in the wasteland so they act like someone actually from the Commonwealth. The Railroad will also try and transport synths out of the Commonwealth to places like the Capital Wasteland or Acadia, far, far away from the Commonwealth and the Institute”.</p><p>            “So they come to you. God, do I really have to stay here? What if they don’t show up for ages?”</p><p>            “In case of emergency, Nora, they did give me a code-phrase. It’s not a lot to go on, but they told me to ‘follow the Freedom Trail’”.</p><p>            “Follow the Freedom Trail?” Nora had heard that phrase before. She racked her brain for a moment before remembering that Piper had talked with her about the Railroad once and mentioned following the physical Freedom Trail.</p><p>            <em>I remember some history from Old Boston, </em>Nora thought to herself. <em>How many locations were there on the trail again? Bunker Hill, the Benjamin Franklin Monument, Paul Revere’s house…</em></p><p>She’d have to speak to someone more well-travelled. Preston would go on during their conversations about having ‘worn out a lot of shoe-leather’ since he’d joined the Minutemen.  MacCready was an unknown quality. Asking Danse for help was out of the question.</p><p>            “I tried to follow the Trail once,” Dr. Amari added, “unusual circumstances warranted the trip. I didn’t find them, but I guess I can at least tell you not to look”.</p><p>#</p><p>            The back room of the Third Rail found Danse, Preston, and MacCready sitting down to a couple bottles of whiskey, some shot-glasses, and several beers.</p><p>            “I’m not interested in getting intoxicated, sorry,” Danse said.</p><p>            “C’mon Saul,” Preston pressured him. “This is why people don’t like you”.</p><p>            “Maybe not some people,” Danse scoffed.</p><p>            “You gotta lighten up,” Preston advised Danse. “Being that uptight is only going to cause problems for us while we’re here”.</p><p>            “You two are planning on getting intoxicated while Mulyer’s getting critical information involving our only way into the Institute, and I’m the one causing problems for us here?”</p><p>            “Well, Dr. Amari was in a hurry to get us out,” Preston said. “And I know it wasn’t because of me”.</p><p>            “The Brotherhood aren’t popular here in Goodneighbor,” MacCready advised. “And honestly, you being from Rivet City wasn’t the giveaway. You didn’t <em>used</em> to run with the Brotherhood, Saul. You’re just <em>really</em> bad at playing wastelander”.</p><p>            Danse’s eyes widened, but he said nothing, not wanting to admit his ignorance.</p><p>            “Your friends are <em>real</em> uptight folks,” MacCready continued, “and Goodneighbor is not an uptight town. You wanna stop sticking out like a sore thumb?” MacCready put a shot glass and a whiskey bottle in front of Danse.</p><p>            “Drink”.</p><p>            “Know any drinking games?” Preston asked MacCready.</p><p>            “General told me about one I wanted to try but never played. Apparently it’s pre-War. She called it ‘never have I ever’. I’ll start. I say something I’ve never done, and if either of you have done it, ya take a drink. Let’s see…”</p><p>            After thinking about it for a moment, MacCready grinned.</p><p>            “I’ve never fought a Deathclaw”. Preston took a drink of his beer in response, while Danse poured himself a shot of whiskey and proceeded to clumsily take the drink.</p><p>            “I figured maybe Saul did, but you too Preston?”</p><p>            “With the General, at Concord. I was on a rooftop shooting at it with my musket while she was in that T-45 power armor that’s still ripped to shreds in Sanctuary”.</p><p>            “That’s funny,” Danse admitted. “Last deathclaw I took down was in the Glowing Sea, and guess who was with me?”</p><p>            “Our General sure has a knack for finding trouble,” MacCready shook his head. “Of course, that’s why she keeps us around, huh? Can’t say I mind”.</p><p>            “Guess it’s my turn,” Preston said, trying to take his mind off of Nora. “Alright…I’ve never worn power armor before”.</p><p>            Danse rolled his eyes and took another shot of whiskey while MacCready abstained from touching his beer.</p><p>            “Damn, I thought I had you both”.</p><p>            “I’m also partial to long-range combat,” MacCready said. “Power armor’s not really necessary in those cases. I’ve always <em>wanted</em> to wear power armor though”.</p><p>            “My turn,” Danse said, almost vengefully, before quickly stating, “I’ve never fired a sniper rifle before”.</p><p>            “C’mon, quit lying,” Preston laughed.</p><p>            “Nope, really,” Danse insisted. He was telling the truth. “Laser rifles, sure. Some with makeshift scopes. Back before I left Rivet City I had a couple pipe pistols I made myself. No sniper rifles though, ever”.</p><p>            “What, your friends didn’t teach you how to shoot one?” MacCready chuckled, as he and Preston both took sips from their beer.</p><p>            “No,” Danse grinned, pushing the whiskey away as the alcohol began to hit his brain and opting to switch to beer to keep from becoming too drink. “I’m partial to short-range combat. Sniper rifles aren’t really necessary in those cases”.</p><p>            “Look at Saul, loosening up already and making fun of us!” MacCready laughed. “Alright, time to play this game for real. I’ve never walked in on a fellow Gunner, or Minuteman, or whoever else you’ve worked for, in the middle of the act”.</p><p>            “The act?” Danse said for a moment, before blushing and realizing that MacCready was taking the conversation to a sexual level. Preston embarrassedly took a sip of his bar and muttered something about an elderly Minuteman meeting up with his wife for a conjugal visit.</p><p>            “I guess they don’t really let you do that in the Brotherhood,” MacCready said. Danse gulped for a minute before taking a drink of his beer and mentioning “no, we have problems with unchecked fraternization too…”</p><p>            “Unchecked fraternization?” MacCready laughed.</p><p>            “Relationships between troops during peacetime are natural. There’s no problem with it as long as it doesn’t disrupt the hierarchy of command. Relationships on active duty are a different story, but I’ve run into at least a few soldiers who’ve given into their more basal instincts”.</p><p>            “Oh, well, that’s enlightening,” MacCready said.</p><p>            “I’ve never been caught in the act by another person,” Preston stated. Danse left his beer untouched while MacCready drank.</p><p>            “Had a friend walk in on me when I was fucking my wife,” MacCready sighed. “I’ve never wanted to kill a guy so much…”</p><p>            “You, married?” Preston laughed. “Well, I guess there’s someone for everyone”.</p><p>            “Yeah, I’m a father too,” MacCready sighed. “Who knew?”</p><p>            “I’ve never had a child,” Danse said bluntly. Preston left his drink while MacCready took a shot of whiskey.</p><p>            “Yeah, I bet you’ve never gotten laid either…” MacCready added.</p><p>            “If you mean ‘fraternized’ with another person…no. I haven’t. I can’t say I’ve ever had room in my life for any kind of interpersonal relationship like that”.</p><p>            “Alright, well I’ve never <em>not</em> gotten laid, Saul,” MacCready retorted, only to be surprised when Preston also took a shot of whiskey.<br/>            “Geez, Preston, I figured you probably managed with some girl,” MacCready said.</p><p>            “I said I never got caught in the act,” Preston laughed. “I never said <em>why</em>”.</p><p>            “So what, you never had time like Saul over here?”<br/>            “Nah, I…if anything I think it’s the opposite”.</p><p>            “So what, you got your eye on some girl with the Minutemen?” MacCready asked, while pouring himself another shot of whiskey.</p><p>            “Aren’t we only drinking when the game conditions are met?” Danse asked.</p><p>            “Saul, it’s fucking alcohol. You want more? We’re in a bar in Goodneighbor, buy some”.</p><p>            <em>Well, I guess there’s no sense wasting good spirit</em>, Danse thought to himself, pouring another shot of whiskey.</p><p>            “We should save some for the General,” Preston advised, avoiding MacCready’s question.</p><p>            “Agreed,” Danse stated. “Speaking of which, maybe we should go get her”.</p><p>            “Speaking of the General,” MacCready said, half-jokingly, “don’t tell me <em>she’s</em> the one you mean”. Even the normally oblivious Danse stopped to stare at Preston for a moment.</p><p>            “You’ve…you’ve seriously thought of fraternizing with your own commanding officer?”</p><p>            “Hey I…uh. Look, I don’t have to answer that”.</p><p>            “He likes Mulyer,” MacCready confirmed bluntly. “I mean, I guess I could see it. She’s smart, she’s pretty, she’s charismatic…”</p><p>            “Determined…” Danse added.</p><p>            “What, you like that in a woman, Saul?”</p><p>            “I guess I do,” Danse said passively for a moment, before realizing what MacCready was insinuating and suddenly feeling his face take on a scarlet hue.</p><p>            “W-wait. Not how I meant that. I’ve just…” the alcohol was hitting him harder than he’d expected, “…noticed things”.</p><p>            “<em>Noticed things</em>?” Preston asked incredulously. MacCready was now audibly laughing.</p><p>            “Look, I’m her commanding officer. It’s my job to pay attention”. Almost as soon as he’d said it, Danse realized that this was just as poor of a choice of words as his last comment on Nora Mulyer. Preston’s face somehow juxtaposed confusion and jealously.</p><p>            “Preston!” Danse sighed. “<em>It’s not like that!</em>”</p><p>            “H-hey, hey guys,” MacCready said between laughs. “Never have I ever had a crush on the General. Well, c’mon! Drink up!”</p><p>            “It’s not your turn,” Preston rolled his eyes and motioned for Danse to pass the whiskey bottle before muttering, “…let’s just forget it. It’s not like I had a chance anyway. I mean, she’s still in love with her husband. Who could blame her for that?”</p><p>            After a moment’s hesitation, Preston added, “you two aren’t going to go spreading that information around, are you? It’s probably better if I don’t bother saying anything…”</p><p>            “Only time will tell,” Danse slurred. The Brotherhood soldier began to internally chastise himself for commenting before hearing MacCready mention: “smartest thing I’ve heard him say all night”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Nora and Dr. Amari had spent the better part of an hour going over the fates of various Freedom Trail landmarks and what had become of the buildings which were still standing. With confidence that they’d managed to narrow the location of the Railroad down to a few locations, Nora left the Memory Den’s basement with concerns of how to handle the search.</p><p>            Her anxiety had caused her to bump into a bald man climbing out of one of the Memory Loungers. From under the dark shades he was wearing, he glanced at her appraisingly before saying flirtatiously, “<em>hello </em>there”.</p><p>            “S-sorry,” she said quickly, before leaving the Memory Den in a hurry. Goodneighbor was full of unsavory characters, and Nora couldn’t be too sure who she ran into. Anxiety built up in her brain as Ham, the ghoul bouncer, welcomed her back and directed her down the stairs. Magnolia’s familiar crooning voice echoed through the speakers assembled around the room. When Nora searched among the bar patrons to seek out her friends, she couldn’t find them.</p><p>            “You lookin’ for your friends?” Whitechapel Charlie asked. “A Minuteman, MacCready, and some uptight arsehole? Solomon? Sam?”</p><p>            “Saul,” Nora said with relief. “Alright, how much for the information?”</p><p>            “How much? Lady, they’ve been my best customers all night. Hell, I’m glad you’re here for them before they drink my shelves dry. Head into the backroom and fetch ‘em before they drink your hotel fare for the night…”</p><p>            Heading into the back room, Nora was first greeted by the uncharacteristic sight of a <em>very </em>intoxicated Danse.     </p><p>            “D-…Saul?”</p><p>            “Oh, Knight,” Danse slurred, clutching a bottle of whiskey. “We were waiting for you…”<br/>            “And what were you doing while you were waiting, Saul?”</p><p>            “Oh,” he said between drunken hiccups, “…us? Getting <em>slightly</em> intoxicated”.</p><p>            “Alright, well, I guess it could be worse. You can still stand, right?”</p><p>            “<em>I’m the last man standing,</em>” drunken Danse said boastfully. “I wasn’t going to let those…undiscipled …undipsipl…undicks…”</p><p>            “…undisciplined?”</p><p>            “<em>Undisciplined! Outstanding</em>!”</p><p>            “You weren’t going to let them what? Outdrink you?”</p><p>            “<em>Let’s show ‘em how we do it in the Br—</em>”</p><p>            “—point taken, big guy,” Nora said, shushing him before he could yell the “B”-word. “Time to head to the hotel. Grab MacCready. I’ve got Preston. Think you can help get them up the stairs?”</p><p>            Once Danse and Nora had dragged MacCready and Preston to the Hotel Rexford, Nora paid the hotel manager for two rooms before having Danse and MacCready take one room and helping a totally inebriated Preston into the second room.</p><p>            “Ugh…General? I don’t feel so good”. He reminded Nora vaguely of an incident with Nate, while they were engaged, where Nate had gone drinking with the rest of his company and promptly been drunk under the table by his fellow servicemen. Feeling a strange mix of nostalgia for the memories, grief over Nate, and sympathy for Preston, Nora tucked him in and carefully removed the iconic Minuteman hat from Preston’s head.</p><p>            “<em>General…” </em>Preston mumbled.</p><p>            “You okay?” Nora said worriedly.</p><p>            “You’re even prettier than Magnolia…”</p><p>            Nora blushed for a moment, not expecting such a response. For a moment, something came over her, and she leant in towards Preston’s half-asleep face. Even in his drunken stupor, he could feel what was clearly Nora’s hair brushing up against his forehead. Her breath was sweet against his nostrils; her lips were a hair’s width from his. He had the thought right then and there to wrap his arms around her and hold her against him. A few awkward words began to form in his mind regarding his thoughts on how he really felt about her. His life felt more meaningful with her around. The Minutemen had a chance with her at the helm. She was intelligent and charismatic and beautiful, even with the scar marring half part of her face. All he wanted was one chance to get close enough to her to prove to her he could be just as good to her as she’d been for the rest of the world.</p><p>            And yet he couldn’t help realizing that the look in her eyes at that moment was reserved for someone else: some long-dead Vault Dweller Preston had never met. Before his brain could process these feelings of jealousy and desire, the alcohol finally completed its work and sent him into a deep sleep for the rest of the night. His sudden silence snapped Nora out of her stupor.</p><p>            <em>What am I doing? This isn’t Nate.</em></p><p>            She searched the silence for Nate’s voice, hoping whatever part of him that still lived on in her mind would admonish her for the moment of weakness she’d had. Again, Nate’s ghostly echoes were nowhere to be found. She wasn’t sure what hurt the most. Was it worse that Nate was just fading away into nothingness?</p><p>            Or was it worse that somewhere deep down, Nora knew he’d want her to move on even when she couldn’t?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. The Bright Light In The Night</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 25: In which Nora seeks out curious new allies.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>THE BRIGHT LIGHT IN THE NIGHT</h1><p>
  <em>“Seasons change and our love went cold/Feed the flame ‘cause we can’t let go/Run away, but we’re running in circles/run away, run away” – Post Malone “Circles”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            The night had passed with the three men sleeping drunkenly in their respective rooms. Nora had remained in the same room as Preston, taking a sleeping bag from their packed provisions and setting up shop on the other end of the room. The date and time interface on her Pip-Boy indicated that it was now New Years Eve. She’d entered Vault 111 in the year 2077. Tomorrow marked the start of 2288, and she remained alone in the wasteland, distanced from her life with her family by an ever-increasing divide of time. The thoughts delayed her ability to sleep.</p><p>            In the early morning, Danse, MacCready, and Preston all woke up, very hungover and surprised at whatever each of them found waiting for them when they’d regained consciousness.</p><p>           “F-f…fuuuu,” MacCready moaned. Of the three men in the group, he was the second to awaken. Danse was staring at MacCready from the other side of the room, nursing his own pounding hangover with some sort of paste for his head.</p><p>            “What are you doing?” MacCready asked him.</p><p>            “Applying liniment”.</p><p>            “Liniment?”</p><p>            “A salve for inflammation and headaches. Our alcohol-addled contest last night left me with a stunning hangover…”</p><p>            “I think I could use some, Saul. Mind sharing?”</p><p>            “I do, but…” Danse sighed, inching the canister of paste towards the edge of the table he was seated at. “…just…leave some for Mr. Garvey. I suppose we <em>were</em> all equally irresponsible”.</p><p>            The room where MacCready and Danse had slept had been fortunate enough to have two beds, much to their mutual relief. Before MacCready had awoken, Danse had headed to the hotel lobby and asked after Preston and Nora. While neither of them had apparently awoken, the Brotherhood Paladin was mostly relieved to hear that they had checked into the room across the hall from him.</p><p><em>            Mostly</em>. Something about Preston sleeping in the same room as Nora didn’t sit well with Danse. He kept telling himself it was because unsanctioned fraternization with civilians was considered inappropriate conduct to the Brotherhood, especially during wartime. <em>Keep it within the Brotherhood if you can</em>, he remembered being advised by one Paladin Krieg when he was an Initiate. He got the foreboding feeling that it was something <em>else</em> that made him dislike the idea of Preston and Nora sharing a bed together. He chalked the extra aversion to the idea to his hungover mood as MacCready got up and took some liniment from him.</p><p>            “Stuff smells girly,” MacCready mumbled. “Is this Mulyer’s?”</p><p>            “I got it from the Memory Den,” Danse stated. “Stepped outside looking for a qualified medical doctor. Figured a city like this would have had at least one”.</p><p>            “You didn’t go to Doc Kingston?” MacCready mentioned. “He’s sewn me up more times than I can count. Probably could have given you some decent chems”.</p><p>            “I don’t see the point in getting contaminated by a ghoul doctor just for some liniment. The Memory Den will have to do”.</p><p>            “Goodneighbor’s the wrong city for you, Saul”.</p><p>            “Yeah, MacCready. I noticed”.</p><p>             Once Danse and MacCready had gotten ready for the day, they went into the hallway and pounded on the door across the hall. A groggy Preston answered.</p><p>             “Guys…the General’s still asleep”. Preston pointed to the corner of the room where Danse and MacCready could see an exhausted Nora Mulyer still sleeping on the floor in her sleeping bag.</p><p>             “Why’s she down on the floor like that? You two fight or something?” MacCready asked.</p><p>             “I thought the Minutemen would have been a bit more…chivalrous,” Danse added.</p><p>             “Ugh…it’s not like that,” Preston blushed. “Last thing I remember was us drinking in the Third Rail. I woke up a few minutes ago in bed by myself. My bag was open. I guess the General grabbed my sleeping bag”.</p><p>             “Last thing I remember was <em>also</em> drinking in the Third Rail. I think someone had to lug me up to the hotel,” MacCready sighed.</p><p>             “Me,” Danse said, somewhat embarrassed. “The General came by looking for us. She had me help carry you two up here”.</p><p><em>             And I may have made an ass of myself when I greeted her</em>, Danse thought to himself. Unbeknownst to him, Preston was thinking the same thing about himself. In truth, Preston could vaguely remember Nora tucking him into bed. He wasn’t completely sure what he’d said to her, but he remembered having <em>ideas</em> that he may or may not have attempted to act on. He wouldn’t have blamed Nora at all for sleeping on the other end of the room because of his actions. It would have made more sense to Preston if he’d been the one with the sleeping bag for the night.</p><p>            “Wa….yirr…” Nora was beginning to stir. She was groggier than the rest of the group Despite the complete lack of alcohol in her system, she’d slept like shit. Danse, Preston, and MacCready saw her awaken from her sleeping bag and stare at them all in annoyance.</p><p>            “Do you guys have to be so loud?”</p><p>#</p><p>            In the interest of keeping the group small, Nora asked Preston to leave alongside Danse once they reached Bunker Hill. Danse resisted heavily while they made the trip to Bunker Hill on foot, stating that the importance of the mission demanded that Nora not be the only person left.</p><p>            “Dr. Amari’s contacts won’t agree to a large group, Saul”. She continued using his first name on the basis of MacCready not knowing what his real name was. “We can’t risk them not wanting to make contact with me just because of safety reasons”.</p><p>            “Nora, you’re forgetting the first rule of small group tactics. Stick together. Always stick together!”</p><p>            “This isn’t a reconnaissance mission, though,” Preston said, trying to defend Nora. “This is dealing with the underworld. Gangsters and spies don’t usually like when small armies show up on their front door”.</p><p>            “They don’t have to <em>like</em> it,” Danse retorted.</p><p>            “Saul,” MacCready interrupted. “Big guy. You and Preston wouldn’t know how to handle yourselves with the shadier side of the Commonwealth”.</p><p>            “Of course I can!” Danse said. Preston said nothing to deny MacCready’s claim.</p><p>            “Sure,” MacCready laughed. “That’s why I knew you were Brotherhood within minutes of meeting you, and we all know how the underworld treats Brotherhood”.</p><p>            “The fact that this group has malicious thoughts about the Brotherhood is precisely why Nora shouldn’t go alone!”</p><p>            “On the contrary, <em>she</em> can talk her way out of a situation. <em>You</em> can’t”.</p><p>            “I…well…ugh!” Danse finally said. “<em>Fine.</em> I’ll split with the group from Bunker Hill via Vertibird and head to the Prywden, Knight,” he said, looking at Nora. “<em>Don’t</em> keep me waiting”. At the gate of Bunker Hill, Preston and Danse turned away and proceeded to head back towards the direction of Taffington Boathouse.</p><p>            “Well, now that the wet rag’s gone,” MacCready said, let’s start searching”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Between the intelligence provided about the Freedom Trail by Dr. Amari and MacCready’s own knowledge about certain locations along that path, Nora had isolated the Railroad hideout to a few possible locations. Bunker Hill was in close proximity to several of them.</p><p>            “There’s a lot of Railroad activity through Bunker Hill, no doubt about it,” MacCready told Nora. They had found a bit of isolation on the scaffolding surrounding the monument’s ruins. “Lots of caravans come through here, and I’ve heard a <em>lot</em> of stories of some caravans being…well. Not what they seem”.</p><p>            “Increasing number of Minuteman caravans,” Nora mused. Some of the pack brahmin parked in the field had Minuteman flags attached to their saddles. The world had changed a lot.</p><p>            “Speaking of Minuteman caravans, remember Covenant?” MacCready said. “Old Man Stockton paid out well for finding his daughter. He’s here in Bunker Hill. Crazy idea, we should talk to him!” The former mercenary led Nora into the main part of the monument, where Bunker Hill’s marketplace was set up. Off to one side, an old man in a tuxedo sat away from everyone else.</p><p>            “Hello there friend,” the old man asked sweetly. “Might I ask, do you have a Geiger counter?”</p><p>            “Besides the one on my Pip-Boy?” Nora asked cluelessly. “No, sorry friend”.</p><p>            “Check back with us then,” the old man beamed. “We’re expecting a big shipment soon. Now, anything I can help you with?”</p><p>            “Are you Old Man Stockton?”</p><p>            “Remember me?” MacCready added with a wave.</p><p>            “Ah yes!” The old man recognized MacCready with a soft smile. “You’re one of the ones who helped Honest Dan find my daughter, yes? But…I already paid you”.</p><p>            “You didn’t pay the General of the Minutemen, though”. MacCready pointed to Nora with a laugh as Old Man Stockton became increasingly flustered.</p><p>            “You’re the General of the Minutemen? I was expecting someone a bit more…heavily armed”.</p><p>            “Well, sorry to disappoint,” Nora snarked. The old man laughed.</p><p>            “Oh no, that’s perfectly alright. I cut the reward money in two, though. I didn’t really have any other Caps to give you, I’m sorry…maybe we can work something out?”</p><p>            “I’m not here for Caps,” Nora said (to MacCready’s slight disappointment). “I just need help myself. Very <em>particular</em> help”.</p><p>            “Oh? Well, I’ll see what I can do”.</p><p>            “You uh…” Nora leaned in close. “You wouldn’t happen to know where I could find someone willing to help me with…escapees?”</p><p>            “Escapees?”</p><p>            “Escapees. Perhaps fleeing from some sort of…oppressive organization”.</p><p>            Stockton realized what she’d meant, and his tone changed. “Ah, I see you’re a very <em>discerning</em> customer. Unfortunately, I’m all sold out of that particular item at the moment, but have you tried scavenging around the Freedom Trail?”</p><p>            “I’ve already tried looking in a lot of places, Old Man Stockton,” Nora said, keeping up with the trading analogy. “Goodneighbor, Fanueli Hall, Boston Common, Bunker Hill…seems they’re all sold out. I was hoping you could direct me to the supplier”.</p><p>            “The <em>supplier</em> is hard to get into contact with. I owe you a favor for Covenant. I suppose I could put in a written request, but the turn-around time could take a full week. You’d be better off checking the rest of the trail”.</p><p>            “I’m on my way to a couple remaining spots…” Nora said.</p><p>            “Then I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for. Now, was there anything else—”</p><p>            “Stockton!” An unfamiliar voice said. Nora turned around to notice a familiar looking man in sunglasses. There had been a similar looking man in Goodneighbor at the Memory Den, but that man was bald. This one sported a pompadour haircut.</p><p>            “Oh, I see you’re busy with a customer,” the unnamed man said. “Sorry, I came in for a Geiger counter”.</p><p>            “He’s fresh out,” Nora lamented.</p><p>            “Yeah, I heard. <em>Supplier takes a while.</em> Really wish there was a faster dealer, but, dangers of the wasteland, y’know?”</p><p>            A sudden realization washed over Nora, and before she could think, the next words slipped instinctively out of her mouth. “You wouldn’t happen to know where I could <em>get</em> a Geiger counter, would you?” MacCready raised an eyebrow but stayed silent. He wasn’t sure <em>what </em>was happening, but he wasn’t oblivious enough to assume this conversation was meaningless.</p><p>            “Y’know, about that Freedom Trail. You’ve been by Boston Common, right? Not a great place to stay long. The Swans like to bite,” the pompadour-wearing man said with a knowing smile. “They do have a <em>weird</em> sign though. At trail’s end, follow Freedom’s lantern. Probably someone’s weird chem-addled idea of an artistic statement?”</p><p>            “Probably,” Nora chuckled.</p><p>#</p><p>            Paul Revere’s house had no visible lanterns around it. MacCready and Nora made their way to the next stop on the Freedom Trail that Dr. Amari had still reported to be intact. The Old North Church had a lantern placed on the front door and a picture of another lantern painted by the doorframe in white paint.</p><p>            “I’ve got a strange feeling about this,” Nora said, opening the door. Dr. Amari had reported that the church was empty, save a few ghouls. MacCready and Nora made short work of the ghouls at the front of the church before looking around the pulpit. The entrance to the basement had another lantern symbol emblazoned on the door. Going into the catacombs, Nora and MacCready passed by numerous crypts and more ghouls before reaching the end of the tunnels. In the darkness, the pair stumbled across a couple of primed landmines, though MacCready was able to disarm them quickly and stash them for later use.</p><p>            This was obviously the place. Extra tunnels were boarded up with wiring and a poorly hidden ‘secret’ door. The mechanism for opening the door was centered around the seal of the Boston Freedom Trail. Nora touched the outer rim of the seal cautiously, noticing that the dial spun under her fingertip.</p><p>            “Boss, what’re you doing?”</p><p>            “Hmm…” Nora mused. The arrow on the dial pointed at the letter “T” in the word “Trail”.</p><p>            “It spins”.</p><p>            She touched the inner dial and felt resistance.</p><p>            <em>Different letter</em>? She spun the dial to the next letter: “R”, and then she touched the inner dial. This time there was a click on the other end of the mechanism.</p><p>            “It starts with R?” MacCready asked.</p><p>            <em>It can’t be that easy</em>, Nora thought to herself, spinning the dial again to the letter “A” and pushing the inner dial again.</p><p>            Click.</p><p>            <em>Oh my god, if this spells ‘Railroad’, I’m going to scream.</em></p><p>“I”. Click. “L”. Click.</p><p>            <em>It fucking spells Railroad.</em></p><p>“R” … “O” … “A” … “D”. At the final push of the inner circle of the dial, several clicks fired off in sequence. A rush of gravel and dust permeated the air as the door began to slide open, revealing a hidden corridor.</p><p>            “And we’re in…” Nora said. Both she and MacCready stared down the dark corridor with apprehension. Either the Railroad were <em>way</em> too dumb to help Nora with what they’d come here for, or the simplistic puzzle was just a barrier to something much more ominous ahead of them.</p><p>            <em>One way to find out</em>. Before MacCready could object, Nora proceeded slowly into the darkness, weapons still holstered on her hip or slung around her back. Once she reached total darkness, she stopped. She could hear the faintest sound of movement before the lights suddenly flashed on, revealing a middle-aged woman and two armed guards behind her. One of the guards in particular sported bleached hair done in the same side-shave style as Nora’s current haircut. Unlike Nora, she was armed to the teeth with a very heavily modified minigun. The woman was clearly strong enough to wield such a heavy weapon without the use of power armor, as if it were just another rifle. The sights on the gun were directed right at Nora’s chest.</p><p>            “Stop. Right. There”. The middle-aged woman said commandingly. Nora recognized her voice as the same voice that had played on the Railroad propaganda tape that she’d found during her first visit to Bunker Hill.</p><p>            “You went to a lot of effort to arrange this meeting, but before we go any further, answer my questions”. She looked Nora right in the eyes, suspicion penetrating the wrinkles on her face.</p><p>            “Who are hell are you?”</p><p>            “Just to make sure I’m at the right place, why not tell me who you are first?” Nora replied. She put her hands up to show that she wasn’t a threat, and noticed a disgruntled MacCready laying down his rifle in solidarity.</p><p>            “After all,” Nora continued, “you’re right. I <em>did</em> go through a lot of effort to get here”.</p><p>            The leader of the group smiled and responded almost instantly.</p><p>            “In a world full of suspicion, treachery, and hunters, we’re the synths’ only friends. We’re the Railroad. Satisfied? I’m still waiting on you to answer <em>my</em> question”.</p><p>            “Good, because <em>I</em> followed the Freedom Trail looking for the Railroad,” Nora smiled. “I’m not your enemy”.</p><p>            “If that’s true,” the other woman said, still hanging unto lingering mistrust, “you have nothing to fear. Now, who told you how to contact us?”</p><p>            “With all due respect, ma’am, I don’t want to get anyone into trouble”.</p><p>            “You might as well tell us,” the woman warned. “We’ll find out one way or another. Make this easy”.</p><p>            “Trust me, it’s important,” Nora deflected. “I doubt they would have given me the information on how to find you at all if I didn’t have good reason”.</p><p>            “Is that so? Well then, last question. Why are you here?”</p><p>            “I tracked down and killed a Courser at Greenetech Genetics. Now I need help breaking the code on his Courser chip, and I’m told you’re the only ones who have a chance at helping me”.</p><p>            “You have <em>what</em>? This is not a joking matter,” the woman warned. Nora’s next instinct was to <em>slowly</em> reach into her pockets and produce the chip as proof, but before she could do that, a familiar voice resonated from behind the Railroad guards. From out of the darkness, the man with the pompadour haircut from Bunker Hill made his way into the light.</p><p>            “I didn’t know we were having a party. What gives with my invitation?” With a smirk, his gaze shifted from the other Railroad members to Nora. “Oh,” he added, “I see you invited the Courser killer. Nice”.</p><p>            “Deacon!” The woman barked. “You’re late”.</p><p>            There was a pause as the Railroad leader shifted her attention between Deacon, Nora, and then back to Deacon again. “You’re saying this intruder actually killed a Courser? Single-handedly?”</p><p>            She was almost laughing. “That’d give even Glory a run for her money…”</p><p>            <em>Should I tell them it wasn’t single-handedly? If I don’t and they find out, that could be a problem. But if I do, I’ll have to ‘fess up about my ties to the Brotherhood.</em></p><p>            Deacon and Desdemona were arguing about Nora’s fate now.</p><p>            “News flash boss!” Deacon yelled. “This girl is kind of a big deal! If you’re done interrogating her, you might wanna show this <em>Courser-murdering machine</em> a little courtesy. Just a thought”.</p><p>            “I…” the woman sighed before smiling. “I owe you an apology. Anyone who kills a Courser is good in my book. Now, I’m Desdemona, and I’m the leader of the Railroad. You are?”</p><p>            “I’m Nora Mulyer,” Nora began, before adding, “the General of the Minutemen”. With the exception of Deacon, the Railroad seemed impressed…and slightly apprehensive again.</p><p>            “Hopefully,” Nora continued, “we can work something out”.</p><p>            “I’ve heard a bit about you. A few things I worry about,” Desdemona admitted, “but also some things that have convinced me to <em>not</em> keep the guns pointed on you”. She raised and lowered her right hand in a commanding gesture, and the two guards aiming at Nora and MacCready lowered their weapons.</p><p>            “What you’re asking us for, though, puts us in a tricky position…”</p><p>            “Dez!” Deacon lamented. “We need to let her in! She’s got an intact Courser chip for god’s sake!”</p><p>            “That violates our security protocols,” Desdemona warned.</p><p>            “To hell with protocol! She killed a Courser! There’s no way she’s working for the Institute!”</p><p>            Desdemona’s face wrinkled with frustration as she turned back to Nora.</p><p>            “We’re letting you into our headquarters. You’re the first outsider ever to be granted this privilege. We’ll discuss the details about your chip inside. Now, follow me”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Desdemona had led Nora further into the darkness to a set of stairs leading into the lowest crypts in the Old North Church basement. The crowded burial crypts had been hastily repurposed into an underground base. There were sleeping bags, makeshift workstations, a tiny food station, and even a space for a power armor suit, thought the rack itself was devoid of a frame. Desdemona led Nora through the crypts to a side area where a man in overalls and a strange makeshift metal hat typed away on a terminal.</p><p>            “Decoding a Courser chip is a delicate operation. A million things can go wrong, the least of which is losing the data. Fortunately, we have the right man for the job”.</p><p>            “Tom,” she said as they got closer, alerting the overall-clad man to her presence.</p><p>            “Oh, heya Dez. You need something?” The man glanced suspiciously at Nora.</p><p>            “New synth?”</p><p>            “Tom,” Desdemona advised, “our visitor here has a Courser chip”.</p><p>            “Woah!” Tom exclaimed. “For real? Oh man, it’s been ages…” The man practically flung his hands out at Nora to take the chip from her. Desdemona put a hand between them before looking sternly at Nora.</p><p>            “Right. Some ground rules: Tom can get you the code, but once he’s done, we get the Courser chip”.</p><p>            “W-what if I need the chip later?”</p><p>            “This isn’t a negotiation. This is a demand. I’m not even sure <em>why</em> you think you’ll need that chip again later. To everyone else, this chip is two caps of salvage, and they don’t have the means to do what you’re asking for you. To us, the data is priceless, and we’re not just going to give a portion of it away for free. Now, is this going to be a problem?”</p><p>            “Fine,” Nora nodded. “It’s yours”. With no further argument, she placed the chip carefully into Tinker Tom’s hands.</p><p>            “Tom,” Desdemona snapped her fingers. “Make it happen”.</p><p>            “Alright, little Courser chip,” Tom grinned, placing the chip into a port on his terminal. “Let’s have the circuit analyzer take a crack at you”.</p><p>            Nora inched closer, curiously. She half-expected Desdemona to guide her back from Tom’s workstation, but Desdemona seemed just as interested, and Tom didn’t seem bothered by the onlookers gawking at his work.</p><p>            “We’re in!” He said pridefully. “Just poke the analog connectors a little…”</p><p>            There were a few moments of silence as he worked on his terminal. The screen suddenly flickered.</p><p>            “W-what?!” Tom gulped.</p><p>            “What’s wrong?” Nora worried.</p><p>            “O-oh man, don’t crash!” Tinker Tom said desperately. “Keep it together man…”</p><p>            “He talks to himself when he works,” Desdemona advised.</p><p>            “Memory hiccup,” Tom commented to Desdemona.</p><p>            “Well, that’s a relief…” Nora gulped. “I guess we should just let him wo—”</p><p>            “Here it comes! Encryption algorithms! Alright…we’re still running. Oh man, they’ve added more decimals to the last cipher. This is gonna be.... c’mon baby. Show me that pattern. Where is it?”</p><p>            “Yeah, we should let him work,” Desdemona sighed. “I guess I could get you a chai—”</p><p>            “Wait!” Tom yelled. Nora and Desdemona looked at him worriedly.</p><p>            “They’re using the same logarithmic function as the key generator! Oh man! We got lucky! I got you, you Institute bastard! I got you!”</p><p>            “This is more intense than that time I had to shoot the shit out of a deathclaw…” Nora gulped, prompting a laugh from Desdemona.</p><p>            “Solve for N! Come on, show me that sweet base number! Annnnd we got it! We got the code! Ha-ha! Lemme load that unto a holotape for ya…”</p><p>            “Good work Tom,” Desdemona said proudly as Tom handed Nora the tape. She looked over at Nora. “And you…I’d love to work with you more. Let me know if you’re interested. But to be crystal clear, if you use that data and discover anything involving the Institute, you share it with us first. Otherwise, our relationship is going to be in jeopardy”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Leaving the crypt, Nora and MacCready were surprised to see Deacon blocking the exit.</p><p>            “That was you, wasn’t it? In the Memory Den and at Bunker Hill. You were leading me here,” Nora mused.</p><p>            “Well, you needed the help and you had something we needed too,” Deacon nodded. “So yeah, I figured, why not give you the little extra push? Still, I hope you didn’t mind the reception. When you tango with the Institute, you’ve gotta be careful when someone new steps on the dance floor”.</p><p>            “Your leader was just being cautious,” Nora sympathized.</p><p>            “Cautious?” MacCready scoffed. “She’s lucky she didn’t almost start a full-on firefight”.</p><p>            “Exactly,” Deacon agreed. “Kinda killed our chances at a friendly first impression, though. But, it’s all good now! I vouched for you, no one got hurt. Still, I’d consider it a close personal favor if you didn’t sell us out to the Institute, thanks”.</p><p>            He took off his sunglasses, and his eyes narrowed.</p><p>            “Or the Brotherhood…”</p><p>            <em>I knew that was going to come up sometime, </em>Nora sighed. <em>Might as well be with the friendliest Railroad member of the batch</em>.</p><p>            “I can’t say I agree with everything the Brotherhood stands for,” Nora confessed. “But they have their useful moments, and we don’t have the means to take them on head-on if something goes wrong. Besides, I’d rather avoid bloodshed if I can”.</p><p>            “Wow, never thought I’d meet a Brotherhood Knight I liked before,” Deacon mused. “I’d like to think I know a liar when I see one…but the trail you’ve left in your wake. Killing Kellogg, re-founding the Minutemen, saving Amelia Stockton from those freaks in Covenant; you might be the real deal.</p><p>            “I’ve seen a lot of nasty synths in my travels,” Nora advised. “The Brotherhood doesn’t have it wrong when it comes to the ones still under the Institute’s control --- but at Greenetech, I also saw an innocent one. The Brotherhood gunned her down without a second though.</p><p>            “Don’t worry,” Deacon advised. “You’re not the first person whose eyes were opened to the synth bigotry in the Commonwealth by that kind of tragedy. Believe me when I say I don’t hold that against you. Now, normally someone of your mindset, we’d try and recruit you, but…we’re not doing so hot lately”.</p><p>            “What’re you suggesting?”</p><p>            “I’ve got a job,” Deacon advised. “Too big for me, not big enough for a whole team, but perfect for the two of us. Think you could meet me outside the overpass at Lexington?”</p><p>            “Now? No. I have to get this data where it needs to go first, and it’s going <em>far</em>”.</p><p>            “Capital Wasteland?”</p><p>            “Glowing Sea”.</p><p>            “Yikes…” Deacon sighed. “Why all the way out there?”</p><p>            “Someone hiding there is the only chance I have to get to the Institute and rescue someone very important to me,” Nora advised. “That person in the Glowing Sea was the one who told me how to find the Courser, and they can only help me with this data in hand”.</p><p>            “I heard the General of the Minutemen had their boy taken by the Institute. If you’d dance with the Institute, chase us down, and head to the Glowing Sea <em>twice</em> just to get to them,” Deacon smiled. “Well, I have a new candidate for the mother-of-the-year award…”</p><p>            “Thanks,” Nora smirked. “Tell you what, Deacon? If I come back here when my business is done, you think you can keep the guns off me? We can go to Lexington then”.</p><p>            “It’s a deal”.</p><p>#</p><p>            “Mother of the year award,” MacCready chuckled. “It’s fitting…”</p><p>            “Well, I dunno if I’d go that far…”</p><p>            “Actually boss, about your kid,” MacCready sighed. “There’s something I was wanting to ask you?”</p><p>            “What’s the matter?” Nora asked.</p><p>            “Well…I never got a chance to properly thank you for helping me take out Winlock and Barnes. You had your own son to worry about and you still helped me, so thank you…”</p><p>            “It wasn’t a big deal, MacCready. No need to thank me”.</p><p>            “Are you kidding? You stuck your neck out for me, and I don’t forget that shi— …I mean, er, things like that”.</p><p>            “MacCready, I’m not your mother. You can swear in front of me”.</p><p>            “It’s not about you,” MacCready sighed, “it’s about a promise I made. When I left the Capital Wasteland, I didn’t just leave Little Lamplight behind. I left my family behind too. Duncan, my son: he’s the one I made my promise to. It was a promise to clean up my act and become a better person”.</p><p>            “You never told me why you left him in the Capital Wasteland. You must have had a good reason”.</p><p>            “Reason?” MacCready spat. “I barely had a choice. My son, he’s sick. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. One day, he’s playing out in the fields behind our farm, and the next day he took a fever and all these blue boils just started popping up all over his body. The last time I saw him, he was almost too weak to walk. I didn’t <em>dare</em> ask him to come with me. Honestly, I don’t know how much longer he’s going to last”.</p><p>            “Surely there must be a doctor who could help. I thought the Brotherhood had control of the Capital Wasteland. If it’s more developed than the Commonwealth, why are you <em>here</em>? Is there something we can do?”</p><p>            “Look at you,” MacCready laughed sadly, “always helping even your own problems. A few months ago, I met a guy up in the Capital Wasteland named Sinclair. He claimed his buddy had come down with some kind of disease. I thought he was wasting my time until he mentioned that his partner broke out in blue boils. They dug up information about a cure here in the Commonwealth at a facility called Med-Tek Research”.</p><p>            “And that’s why you’re here…” Nora said. “Wait, I think I remember that place. My husband had a friend who worked there! Wasn’t it near here?”</p><p>            “It’s close,” MacCready advised. “I was gonna go with Sinclair’s group to see if I could get some of that cure for Duncan. We even got the security codes for the facility and everything, but before we could run that operation, Sinclair’s buddy died. They had no reason to help me, so I tried getting the cure myself. Too many ghouls for one person for me to even make it inside”.</p><p>            “Fine, I’ll go with you,” Nora said. “We’ll lay out the ghouls around the facility, break inside, and get the cure. I have to cut through Malden to get back on the road to the airport anyway. Let’s not waste any time”.</p><p>            “Y-you mean that?”</p><p>            “MacCready, would I even be talking about this if I didn’t?”</p><p>            “I…I don’t know what to say,” MacCready sighed. He heard a voice in his head mention: <em>now I know what Preston and Saul see in her.</em></p><p>            “Nora, even if it takes me the rest of my life, I’ll repay this debt to you. I swear it”.</p><p>            “You don’t owe me a damn thing,” Nora grinned. “Let’s hurry”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Darkness was beginning to fall as Nora and MacCready reached the Med-Tek Research building. Staying a good distance away from the facility, Nora noticed a small swarm of ghouls, perhaps twenty or thirty strong, wandering around the courtyard between the parking lot gate and the front door of the building.</p><p>            “I don’t think the two of us can beat them in a head-on fight,” Nora groaned.</p><p>            “I can pick off a few of them from long range,” MacCready said.</p><p>            “Yeah, but you’re not sniping all of them down before they mob me,” Nora sighed. “I can take a few ghouls head-to-head, even without power armor, but….twenty? That’s asking a lot. What we need is something to cripple them en masse. They’re too widespread for a grenade”.</p><p>            She remembered the disarmed landmines MacCready had grabbed from the crypt tunnels.</p><p>            “MacCready, does the game ‘chicken’ still exist?”</p><p>            “Chicken?”</p><p>            “Yeah, it’s a game where you race two cars at each other and…what am I saying? Of course that doesn’t exist anymore”.</p><p>            “Sounds like you have a plan, though, boss”.</p><p>            “The gate,” Nora said, pointing to it. “I’ll arm those mines you picked up and throw them down just inside. No matter how many ghouls come rushing at us, they all have to get through the gate”.</p><p>            “I pick a couple off while you lure them to the gate, and then the landmine cleans out the rest?”</p><p>            “Yep”.</p><p>            The plan went off almost perfectly, with Nora slowly sneaking up to the gate and throwing rocks at the brunt of the ghouls. One or two ghouls fell as she did this: MacCready was thinning the herd from a nearby hill. There wasn’t much time before the remaining group of ghouls began to converge on her, but the intense amount of physical training the Brotherhood had put her through had heightened her reflexes <em>just</em> enough to arm and deploy the two landmines in the pair’s possession before ducking behind the wall and unholstering her pistol. The two mines exploded, and ghoul limbs littered the parking lot like confetti. Several ghouls fell to the ground incapacitated. A few stragglers managed to be unaffected by the blast, lunging at Nora.</p><p>            “<em>Fuck!</em> MacCready!” She yelped, taking shots at the legs of the ghouls. One of four was done, but three more were on their way.</p><p>            “On it!” A second ghoul fell, struck in the head by sniper fire. The third was knocked back by several shots in the chest. The final ghoul, this one still wearing raider armor, lunged at Nora and biting down on her neck.</p><p>            “GODDAMMIT!” Nora screamed, kicking and scratching at the ghoul. The force of being tackled had knocked her gun away from her. The ghoul was snapping for more bites, nearly taking a chunk of Nora’s nose with it before being put down by a well-aimed shot by MacCready.</p><p>            “Took you long enough!” Nora yelled.</p><p>            “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! The gun jammed!”</p><p>            He tore at her Vault Suit, exposing her shoulder. The Brotherhood modifications to her armor had managed to stop the ghoul from doing as much damage as it could have.</p><p>            “It…actually doesn’t look like it’ll get infected. You still need a Stim, though”.</p><p>            Nora crawled away for a moment to pick up her gun before pulling antibiotic cream from her supplies. “Just in case,” she sighed. “I’ve got plenty of Stims. I’ve learned those bites can get nasty”.</p><p>            Once she was back on her feet, MacCready produced his own pistol and put down the incapacitated ghouls laying at the parking lot gate. The pair made their way into the building to seek out the cure. There were more ghouls still trapped within the Med-Tek offices, but the maze-like layout of the building made it relatively easy to pick them off in small numbers and avoid being swarmed. Eventually, they made their way to the sub-level, cleared out the last ghouls in their way, and found a vial of the required cure laying on one of the furthest lab desks at the lowest level, next to a heavily irradiated ghoul with glowing skin that MacCready had put down. The vial was labeled PREVENT: a broad-spectrum antibiotic made by Med-Tek to combat all manner of bacterial infections.</p><p>            “Holy crap,” MacCready grinned, almost crying. “W-we did it. We just gave Duncan a fighting chance to live! I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to pay you back for this. I owe you, big time”.</p><p>            “You wanna make me happy, MacCready? Get that cure to your son. That’s all I want from this”.</p><p>            “I know,” MacCready said breathlessly. “You, you’re something else. I just get tired of taking and not giving back. Maybe one day I’ll get my priorities straight”.</p><p>            “Side question, MacCready. How long would it take to get that cure to Duncan?”</p><p>            “I can get it to Daisy, in Goodneighbor,” MacCready said. “She’s got reliable caravan contacts. Good ones. They work fast and they get where they need to go”.</p><p>            “How fast?”</p><p>            “On foot? Accounting for layovers, the caravans I ran with took about two weeks from the Commonwealth to the Capital Wasteland. There’s a safe route through the outskirts of Manhattan, and through a couple of other major areas between here and the Commonwealth. Allen-town, and Baltimore, for example, aren’t too dangerous to travel through. Anyway, they’ll get this cure to Duncan”.</p><p>            “You’re damn right they will. Maybe someday I’ll see you again, MacCready?”</p><p>            “Wait, I’m not going anywhere. I still have our score to settle…”</p><p>            “MacCready, forget our ‘score’. I told you, I’m not worried about it. You’ve already helped me find the Railroad. We’re even. Now, you save your boy, and I’m gonna go save mine…”</p><p>            “You really mean that, don’t you?” MacCready sighed.</p><p>            He nodded. “Alright. I’m off to Goodneighbor and the Capital Wasteland. It’ll be a while before I’m back, but hopefully that just means that the next time I see you will be when we introduce Duncan to Shaun”.</p><p>            “I’d like that”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. I Don't Want To Rule The World</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 26: In which Nora realizes she just can't catch a break.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This was one of my favorite chapters to write by far.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>I DON’T WANT TO RULE THE WORLD</h1><p>
  <em>“It’s my own design/it’s my own remorse/help me to decide/help me make the most of freedom and of pleasure/nothing ever lasts forever/everybody wants to rule the world” – Tears for Fears “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”</em>
</p><hr/><p>The last signal grenade in her possession had allowed Nora to return to the Prydwen from outside Med-Tek research with little difficulty. She had worried that the smoke would be more difficult to see in the darkness, only to remember that Maxson had stated the grenades also emitted an electromagnetic pulse. The Vertibird reached the docking bay on the Prydwen just as the clock hit midnight.</p><p>            <em>Happy New Year</em>, Nate’s voice echoed to her.</p><p>            “Yeah,” Nora said aloud to the voice in her head. “Happy New Year to you too”.</p><p>            “Knight?” The Lancer at the Vertibird’s helm asked.</p><p>            “Oh? I was just saying Happy New Year, Lancer. Ad Victoriam”.</p><p>            “Ad Victoriam, Knight,” the Lancer chuckled. “Hey…is it true that in your time they celebrated with explosions?”</p><p>            “Fireworks,” Nora elaborated. “And…kinda, yeah. Probably not the same as what you’re thinking of”.</p><p>            “Well, this year, we’ll light the Institute up for you,” the well-meaning Lancer said. Nora could only think of her son still being inside, surrounded by explosions.</p><p>            “I…appreciate the sentiment, Lancer,” Nora sighed. “I’m needed on the bridge. Thanks for the flight”.</p><p>            Lancer-Captain Kells emerged from the Prydwen’s interior as Nora reached the main part of the flight deck.</p><p>            “There you are, Knight. Paladin Danse was getting anxious. I’m pleased to see you’ve returned with due diligence”.</p><p>            She gave him the salute to which his rank entitled him. Thoughts of the Minutemen and Railroad in her mind left her pondering the future of the Brotherhood again. Now, it was best only to be diplomatic. “Of course, sir,” she said plainly. “I take it you’ll be even more pleased to hear I have the data?”</p><p>            “Outstanding work. And the chip?”</p><p>            “It…” she hesitated, “…didn’t survive the extraction process, sir”.</p><p>            “Regrettable, but expected,” he sighed. “Very well. Your mission was still a success. Elder Maxson requested that you speak to him as soon as you return to the Prydwen. I’ll send for him immediately since it’s so late. Your things from Cambridge have been brought to the Prydwen for you”.</p><p>            “I appreciate it, sir”.</p><p>            When she reached the Command Deck, she waited patiently for the Elder to arrive. It was late, and he was still so young. He really should have been sleeping. Still, with a full army under his command, she wondered if he slept much at all. A small, unhidden cache of bourbon and various chems on the Elder’s table seemed to indicate that the Elder had his own ways of relaxing. Once Maxson arrived at the Command Deck, it quickly became apparent that Nora’s arrival <em>had</em> interrupted his rest. His trademark armored jacket was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Arthur Maxson wore only his regular black flight-suit. Though his uniform was on correctly, the bags under his eyes indicated that he’d been sleeping.</p><p>            She saluted him as well. Rather than salute her back, Elder Maxson pointed to a chair as he went over to a table and produced a couple of drinking glasses and a strange looking container.</p><p>            “Elder?”</p><p>            “At ease, Knight. You returned quickly with the data; quicker than I expected. Paladin Danse expected you would be gone for a couple of days. I take it Dr. Amari was more cooperative than he’d let on?”</p><p>            “As helpful as she could be. I had to do a bit of legwork on my own, but I managed. I take pride in having reliable contacts with the Minutemen”.</p><p>            “I can’t say I’m not impressed with how good you are at being the General of the Minutemen. You may make them into something yet”. He seemed to be smiling as he reached into the bureau near his table and pulled out what Nora could clearly identify as an <em>ice scoop. </em>Without hesitation, he opened the tin he’d pulled from the bureau, and Nora could see a faint fog coming out of it.</p><p>It was some sort of cooler. Ice was a luxury in the world after the apocalypse.</p><p>His voice momentarily assumed its usual commanding inflection. “I need that holotape, Knight. Proctor Quinlan is to make a back-up copy immediately, especially since we don’t have the chip”.</p><p>            “Of course, Elder,” she handed him the tape. “I’ll resupply, get some rest, and head to the Glowing Sea”.</p><p>            “Stay a while,” the Elder stopped her, resuming his unusually pleasant tone after putting the tape in a tight pocket of his flight suit. The form-fitting suit did little to hide his physique. Nora glanced away out of respect to him…and to Nate.</p><p> “It’s New Year’s Day, and you’ve worked hard, Mulyer. You’re obviously tired. Take the night off while we analyze the data”. The <em>clinking</em> of ice into two glasses punctuated his sentences. His motions were fluid, sealing up the container of ice and placing it back into a special compartment in the bureau before opening up a bourbon bottle and filling one glass for himself.</p><p>“I…appreciate that, sir. However, I really need to hurry. Shaun’s still out there”.</p><p>            “And you <em>will</em> see him again,” Maxson finished. “But I’d be a terrible commanding officer if I let a soldier, especially a very <em>promising</em> soldier, drop from overwork. You’ll be flown to the Glowing Sea the moment you’re ready to go. First, you need sleep”.</p><p>            “With all due respect, sir, don’t you need it too?”</p><p>            “Why do you think I’m drinking bourbon, Knight?” Elder Maxson was uncharacteristically smirking at her. “I don’t fall asleep easy. I had just started drifting off when you arrived”.</p><p>            “I’m sorry sir”.</p><p>            “Sorry, Nora? For showing up with good news ahead of schedule? If anything, you’re going to ensure I sleep a little sounder tonight. This might well be cause for celebration”.</p><p>            He closed the bourbon bottle and placed it back on the other side of the table.</p><p>            “I’m aware you’re not clear to drink alcohol yet, Knight. Will water suffice?”</p><p>            <em>Ice-cold water.</em> A treat. Elder Maxson was being a little <em>too</em> nice to her, although Nora reminded himself that he <em>did</em> say he wanted to celebrate.</p><p>            “I…yes”.</p><p>            “Good”. He poured a readied can of purified water into the cold glass before handing it to Nora. The water was <em>crisp</em>. Refreshing. When was the last time she’d had something cold to drink? Even Deezer’s Lemonade wasn’t chilled when it had been served to her. Before she knew it, she’d gulped down the entire thing. Elder Maxson was suppressing a <em>laugh</em>.</p><p>            “Someone was dehydrated,” Arthur Maxson mused. “See, this is why you need a day off”.</p><p>            “I’ll take the glass to the mess hall to wash,” Nora said, hastily getting up. “Should I just bring it back here or…”</p><p>            “I can rinse the glass out myself, Knight. My quarters have a sink. You sure you don’t need more water first?”</p><p>            He set his own half-finished glass of bourbon down before taking Nora’s glass from her and gesturing for her approval as to whether or not she needed a refill. Unsure what to do, she accepted the second glass. Again, he topped the glass of with a bit of ice and poured another can of water in for her. Nora stood to accept the glass from him once he returned.</p><p>            His glass clinked against hers. He had toasted her.</p><p>            “Happy New Year, Knight”.</p><p>            “H-Happy New Year, Elder”.</p><p>            They both took drinks from their glasses. Once Nora had finished the second glass, she set the empty drinking vessel down on the table. The clanking of hydraulic power armor interrupted them.</p><p>            “Danse?” Elder Maxson asked. The Paladin, in full armor, was standing at the doorway.</p><p>            “Sir, I was told Knight Mulyer was back. I wanted to check in”.</p><p>            His eyes fixated on Nora. “Well, soldier, you made it back in one piece from the underbelly of the Commonwealth. I’m impressed”.</p><p>            “Why are you wearing power armor so late, Paladin?” Nora asked.</p><p>            “Good question, actually,” Elder Maxson muttered.</p><p>            “I just like to be prepared…”</p><p>            “<em>Of course,</em>” Elder Maxson smirked. “Paladin, relax. The mission was a complete success. Your Knight and I have already debriefed. Now we’re just toasting the New Year. Would you like to join us?”</p><p>            “Oh! Happily!” Danse exclaimed, moving towards the group while Elder Maxson fetched a third glass.</p><p>            “Bourbon or water, Danse?”</p><p>            “Your choice, Arthur”.</p><p>            “Bourbon, then. Today’s a special occasion”. Nora noticed that Paladin Danse’s glass <em>did not </em>come with ice. She finished off the last of her second class, small chunks of the remaining ice melting slowly into nothingness.</p><p>            “Do you need more ice-water, Knight?” Elder Maxson asked non-chalantly. Danse’s eyes nearly popped out of his head at the mention of <em>ice</em>-water, but he said nothing. Nora blushed and avoided direct eye contact with either of them.</p><p>            “Er…no. I’m fine, Elder. Thank you”.</p><p>            “At least take a small amount so you can toast with us. Paladin Danse must be feeling left out…”</p><p>            “Oh!” She stammered, noticing that the Paladin was indeed giving her a strange look. “Right…of course. No ice this time, please. I don’t want to waste it”.</p><p>            “Sure,” Elder Maxson nodded, pouring a small portion of another water can into her glass before keeping the rest of the can for himself. The three soldiers toasted each other with well-wishes for the year 2288. Once Nora was finished drinking, she set her glass on the table as Elder Maxson had asked.</p><p>            “I’ll just leave this here, Elder. Like you asked”.</p><p>            “That’ll be perfect, Knight. Use the rest of New Year’s Day on the Prydwen recuperating as you see fit. Sleep in if you wish. Report for duty at oh-six-hundred hours on the 2<sup>nd</sup>. You’re dismissed”.</p><p>#</p><p>            A very abrupt awakening came for Nora at oh-five-hundred hours when she was found to still be asleep during bunk inspection. Nora had forgotten that she was expected to be awake by most of the soldiers on the Prydwen during the first shift.</p><p>            “KNIGHT MULYER!” Knight-Captain Iliya’s voice struck Nora like a barbed-wire swatter to the head. “ARE YOU INTENT ON SLEEPING THROUGH THE REST OF THE DAY WHILE THERE’S WORK TO BE DONE?!”</p><p>            “No ma’am!” Nora bolted awake, groggily stumbling up from her bed and positioning herself at attention.</p><p>            “THEN WHY ARE YOU SLEEPING AT YOUR BUNK’S INSPECTION TIME, KNIGHT?”</p><p>            “Ma’am! I was ordered to sleep in, ma’am!”</p><p>            <em>What the fuck is going on? I thought the Elder said I could sleep in…</em></p><p>“ORDERED? BY WHO?!”</p><p>            “By Elder Maxson, ma’am!”</p><p>            “BY ELDER MAXSON?!” Knight-Captain Iliya was in disbelief, almost laughing at Nora’s response. Some of the inspecting Knight-Sergeants around here were <em>audibly</em> laughing.</p><p>            “YOU UNDERSTAND THIS IS NOT A JOKING MATTER, KNIGHT?!”</p><p>            “Of course ma’am!”</p><p>            “AND WHAT DO YOU EXPECT WILL HAPPEN TO YOU IF I FIND OUT THAT YOU JUST GAVE ME A VERY SORRY EXCUSE FOR A LIE?!”</p><p>            “Ma’am! I…uh…it’s not a lie, Ma’am, honest!”</p><p>            <em>How the fuck did Nate put up with this shit?</em></p><p>Knight-Captain Iliya’s voice grew cold. “Elder Maxson is a very busy man, Knight. Far be it from me to bring this claim to him directly at oh-five-hundred hours. Knight-Sergeant Lee!”</p><p>            “Yes ma’am!” The requested Knight-Sergeant saluted.</p><p>            “Knight Mulyer’s commanding officer is Paladin Danse. Go knock on his quarters and tell him what just happened”.</p><p>            “Yes ma’am!”</p><p>            “And you,” Knight-Captain Iliya barked at Nora. “Make yourself presentable. We’re going to the common area to meet Paladin Danse since your commanding officer can’t enter this part of the Prydwen”.</p><p>            Not knowing what else to do, Nora complied. Paladin Danse had <em>been there</em> when Elder Maxson had told Nora she needed the day off. It was in his hands now. After hastily getting dressed in her fatigues and making her way out to the common area, she waited alongside Knight-Captain Iliya for the few minutes that it took for Paladin Danse, himself dressed only in his orange flight-suit and no hood for his hair, to make his way over to the scene.</p><p>            She expected Danse to perhaps yell at Knight-Captain Iliya or interrogate both of them as to why Knight-Sergeant Lee had just fetched him in the early morning for <em>this</em>. Nora also half-expected Danse to berate her for not standing up for herself, or whatever fault he would find with the situation.</p><p>            Instead, she could only watch in cold confusion and horror as Paladin Danse stared at both her and Knight-Captain Iliya with a blank, emotionless look that was unreadable. He stepped forward, leant into the Knight-Captain’s ear, and whispered something inaudible that caused Knight-Captain Iliya’s face to go from pale-white, pink, to red, to <em>puce.</em></p><p>            “A-are you sure?!” Knight-Captain Iliya practically squeaked. She looked as though Elder Maxson had just ordered her to jump out of the Prydwen without power armor.</p><p>            “Am I sure, Knight-Captain? I was <em>there</em>,” Paladin Danse said sternly. He looked over at Nora apologetically. “This is <em>my </em>fault, Knight-Captain. Knight. Elder Maxson and I stayed up late discussing tomorrow’s operation and a couple of other things. In the process, I went to bed late and <em>forgot</em> to notify the Knight-Captain of…well. This situation”.</p><p>            The Knight-Captain was staring at Nora as though Nora had suddenly sprouted wings and a halo. Paladin Danse merely said, apologetically, “I’ll handle this. Neither of you are in trouble. Go back to sleep, Knight”.</p><p>            “Um…Knight-Captain?” Nora asked. “With all due respect ma’am, why are you looking at me like that?”</p><p>            “Looking? At you? Like…sorry, Knight. I was…I wasn’t expecting it to be true”.</p><p>            “Is it…so unusual?” Nora gulped.</p><p>            “<em>Yes. </em>I’ll explain later,” Danse said wearily. “Knight, unless you suddenly can’t sleep, go back to bed”.</p><p>            <em>Am I fucking missing something?</em></p><p>“I…can’t sleep,” Nora said hastily. “I think I’m going to make my bunk and go fetch breakfast”.</p><p>            “Yes, that would be best,” Danse yawned. “<em>I’m </em>going back to bed”.</p><p>            “Er…Knight Mulyer?” Knight-Captain Iliya gulped.</p><p>            “Yes ma’am?”</p><p>            “Sorry”.</p><p>            “Sorry? Ma’am, I fail to understand what just happened. Anyway, the Paladin said it wasn’t your fault. Let’s just agree to forget about the whole thing”.</p><p>            “Agreed,” Knight-Captain Iliya nodded. “That would be best, ma’a— I mean Knight”.</p><p>            <em>Ma’am? She outranks me. </em>Nora decided not to question the situation any further before heading back into the women’s barracks to fix her still-disheveled bunk. She had been the one to suggest forgetting the whole thing. It was better to do just that.</p><p>#</p><p>            <em>Why is everyone looking at me so weird?!</em></p><p>Word of the bunk incident had quickly spread throughout the residential areas of the Prydwen. Nora could only imagine what warped version of whatever the story had been making its way around the ship’s forces. Somehow, Elder Maxson letting her have the day off had become something far more grandiose in everyone else’s eyes. She could only pray to every deity she could think of that it wouldn’t somehow <em>devolve</em> into sexual misconduct rumors or something of the sort.</p><p>            No --- fraternization or any kind of scandalous affair would have elicited different reactions. People would have been making snide comments at her or refusing to talk to her in such a situation. Whatever was going on, this situation had resulted in Nora getting the exact <em>opposite</em> reaction. Senior officers who barely noticed her now gave her nods in passing. Some called her <em>ma’am</em> despite outranking her, as Knight-Captain Iliya had stopped herself from doing. The mess officer hastily made her a <em>fresh</em> omelette instead of giving her one of the ready-made ones on order in the kitchen.</p><p>            “You…you really didn’t need to trouble yourself,” Nora advised the mess officer.</p><p>            “<em>Please</em>. Eat up, Knight”.</p><p>            <em>This is a prank, or hazing. It has to be.</em></p><p>            She took a bite of the omelette. It was quite good. Little bits of Cram and tato were mixed in. It was even seasoned: a luxury beyond her station.</p><p>            “Well?” The mess officer asked nervously.</p><p>            “It’s delicious…” Nora advised him. “<em>Too </em>delicious”.</p><p>            “Oh, well! I’m sorry. If it’s a bit rich I can make it with less Cram next time”.</p><p>            <em>Next time?</em></p><p>            “No,” Nora confided in him, peeking over her shoulder to ensure no one was listening in. All eyes were still on her in the mess hall, but as soon as she turned around, everyone pretended to go back to whatever they were supposed to be doing.</p><p>            “Just…” she lowered her voice. “Why the gold-star treatment all of a sudden?”</p><p>            “Well, you deserve it!”</p><p>            “Is this about the operation?” Nora asked, baffled.</p><p>            “You really don’t know?” The mess hall officer questioned her. “Well, this is your lucky day! I guess I get to tell you that—”</p><p>            “Knight Wilson,” Danse’s voice cut in, interrupting the conversation.</p><p>            “Oh! Paladin! Time for your morning coffee? You like yours black, right?”</p><p>            “What I want is a moment of <em>privacy</em>. Mulyer, are you finished eating? We <em>really</em> need to talk”. Unlike everyone else’s unusual cheery demeanors around her today, Danse was addressing her with some concern.</p><p>            “I…uh…gimme one sec”.</p><p>            “You know, you really shouldn’t rush eating that omelette! It’s not good for your digestion!”</p><p>            <em>Danse’d better have a good explanation for this, </em>Nora thought to herself, quickly choking down the omelette. As soon as she was done, Danse ushered her unceremoniously towards the officer’s barracks.</p><p>            “Uh, where are we going?”</p><p>            “Command Deck. We’ll be out in the open but still alone there. We need to talk without having <em>other </em>people talk. Elder Maxson’s ordered the room vacated for us.</p><p>            “He’s not coming?”</p><p>            “No. Not now. He didn’t want to be too…” Danse hesitated. “…<em>presumptuous</em>”.</p><p>            “Oh god, everyone on the ship thinks I slept with him…” Nora realized.</p><p>            “<em>What?!</em>”  Danse almost roared as they made it to the stairs leading down to their destination. “No, they don’t think that. I almost <em>wish</em> they thought that. <em>That </em>would be easier to deal with”.</p><p>            “Danse, you’re not helping me feel any better about this”.</p><p>            “Sorry,” Danse barked, rolling his eyes. “It’s a complicated scenario, okay? Just…let me explain…”</p><p>            Once they made it to the Command Deck, Danse lowered his voice.</p><p>            “So…I noticed the Elder gave you some ice”.</p><p>            Nora was blinded by confusion.</p><p>            “Danse, is this seriously about <em>ice</em>?”</p><p>            “Yes…and no. I told you, <em>it’s complicated</em>”.</p><p>            “Well, uncomplicate it! Please!”</p><p>            “Mulyer, I’m sure you’re aware that ice isn’t easy to come by nowadays? Cooling boxes to store it in are even rarer”.</p><p>            “It’s a status symbol, I imagine, sure. What does that have to do with anything?”</p><p>            “Even the Paladin’s don’t see ice much unless the situation warrants it. It’s not something that denotes <em>rank</em>, if you get my meaning. The Brotherhood started out from the ashes of the United States Military. There’s several prominent family trees involved. One could say it’s a measure of nobility to come from a family with enough clout in the Brotherhood to afford a creature comfort like <em>ice</em>”.</p><p>            “What, are people angry because Maxson doesn’t share his cold beverages?”</p><p>            “Angry? They’re not angry, Nora. They’re awe-struck. Maxson might rarely share ice with Paladins like myself, but that’s because we’re his inner circle and some of us go back to the days when he wasn’t the Elder of the East Coast Brotherhood. The only person he frequently shares with is Lancer-Captain Kells, who --- may I remind you --- is Maxson’s executive officer. The two of them stay up late discussing battle plans and determining the future of the Brotherhood. It’s understandable that Maxson would indulge Kells like that”.</p><p>            “How often does he share with the Knights?” Nora asked worriedly, beginning to see where this was going.</p><p>            “Never,” Danse elaborated. “And never with <em>women</em> either, because of fraternization rules. <em>Until last night</em>”.</p><p>            “With me…” Nora gulped. “Well…it <em>was </em>late. And New Years! Maybe this was an oversight?”</p><p>            “Maxson? Have an oversight? You’re joking,” Danse said. “No, his little <em>gift</em> to you was very intentional, and it wasn’t the first time. Everyone knows you’re on a small list of Knights with signal grenade privileges. He asks after your health from Cade as frequently as I do, except <em>I </em>have combat-related reasons to worry about how you’re holding up. Sure, he has <em>strategic</em> reasons for asking occasionally…but…he <em>asks a lot</em>, Nora”.</p><p>            Danse sighed, “and then he ordered you to sleep in so you’d get rest. And we had that talk last night…”</p><p>            “What talk?”</p><p>            “You weren’t there for that…” Danse added. “He just…asked about you. <em>A lot</em>”.</p><p>            “…Danse. Does Elder Maxson…”</p><p>            “He …well… Mulyer, goddammit it, you know I’m not good at these kinds of things… he <em>fancies</em> you”.</p><p>            “Oh no,” Nora gulped, imaging several nightmares coming true at once about this kind of situation. Danse became visibly confused.</p><p>            “Oh <em>no</em>?”</p><p>            “Isn’t that a problem? I thought that was a problem.”</p><p>            “<em>When it’s someone else</em>!” Danse elaborated. “Nora, do you have any idea what Elder Maxson is to the Brotherhood? He’s the last remaining descendant of the Brotherhood’s founder. It’s most <em>important</em> lineage. If he goes while he’s still the Last Maxson, some people are afraid the Brotherhood might go with him, and it scared a lot of other Elders and Paladins that Elder Maxson didn’t really seem to care about that kind of thing…”</p><p>            “…and then, out of nowhere, he shows interest in another person for the first time in his adult life. Do you have any idea how <em>relieved</em> everyone on this ship is? People think you’re literally a godsend!”</p><p>            “So…that’s why people are suddenly so…nice? They don’t <em>think </em>I’m sleeping with him…”</p><p>            “They <em>want</em> you to sleep with him,” Danse finished. “Well, actually, they want you to have a child with him. Some of them are ready to <em>beg</em> you for it”.</p><p>            <em>Oh my god, Nate. I’m officially in hell.</em></p><p>“Alright, well. That explains the five-star omelette. Danse. First question: what did you tell Knight-Captain Iliya?”</p><p>            “The truth,” Danse said bluntly. “Elder Maxson wants to marry you. It’s plainly obvious. I didn’t want her to get in trouble because <em>I</em> forgot to pass on orders, so I came clean. What was I supposed to tell her?”</p><p>            “Why did she look so scared about it?”</p><p>            “Mulyer, you’re too smart to be this dumb. She’d just been informed by me that you were <em>supposed </em>to be sleeping at that time, and that she’d inadvertently accosted Maxson’s future wife. Do you really think anyone wants to get on the bad side of Lady Maxson? Or <em>Elder</em> Maxson, for that matter?”</p><p>            “Hold on, I’m not ‘Lady’ anyone. I haven’t even agreed to this!”</p><p>            “<em>I know</em>. That’s why I’m talking with you about it”.</p><p>            Danse sighed. Sure, he <em>liked</em> Nora, but to be in the eyes of the Last Maxson himself? If Danse were a woman, he certainly wouldn’t have turned the opportunity down. It was precisely because of their friendship (and his past oversights involving Nora’s situation and family life) that he’d swooped in to pull her aside before anyone else did. It was also because of all these reasons why he’d kept Arthur up, asking the Elder to take Nora’s situation into consideration. She’d <em>just</em> lost her husband, and she had yet to find her son.</p><p>            “So out with it,” Nora demanded. “What’s your take on all this?”</p><p>            “Well…under <em>normal</em> circumstances, I’d be lambasting you for not jumping at the opportunity. I’m not an expert on feminine affairs, but even I realize that most women on the ship would kill to be in your shoes. You’d be <em>stupid</em> to turn a proposal from Elder Maxson down”.</p><p>            “Okay, so under <em>current </em>circumstances, why aren’t you lambasting me?”</p><p>            “To avoid upsetting you like I did at the airport, Nora. I know you’re looking for your son, and I know you’re not going to let go of your past life,” his eyes flickered momentarily at her wedding ring, “before you find him. Quite frankly, I don’t blame you. Your son should come first. Acknowledging that is just basic human decency”.</p><p>            “Does Maxson understand that? You said he talked with you about me for half the night. Can I be reasonably assured that he’s not going to slip a potato sack over my head and cart me off to the altar?”</p><p>            “He’s…<em>sympathetic</em>. About your husband and your son. Look, I’m not supposed to tell you this, but there was …someone before you. In his life”.</p><p>            “And yet there are no mini-Maxsons around?” Nora asked concernedly.</p><p>            “No. Maxson wasn’t much older than your boy when Sarah was still alive, but…”</p><p>            There was an awkward silence between them before Nora said simply, “…I see”.</p><p>            “Anyway,” Danse continued, “he won’t dare ask you about it until the operation with the Glowing Sea is over. He’s not an idiot. Once you <em>have</em> your son with you, though, things may change. I doubt it’ll involve potato sacks, as you so eloquently put it. He’s rough, but <em>not like that. </em>With that having been said, he’s very interested in you, <em>and </em>he’s under a lot of pressure to get married. Quickly. It’s only fair that you get time to think about it before anything actually happens, and Maxson wasn’t sure how to broach the subject directly. I guess last night was his attempt at being subtle, but that didn’t work, so I pulled you aside…”</p><p>            “So for right now, he’s giving me breathing room. What about after I get Shaun back? Then what?”</p><p>            “The obvious: he’ll pop the question. I’ll be honest, Nora. The decision is yours. I mean, I don’t see why you <em>wouldn’t</em> do it, at least for your son if nothing else. I’m just saying: Shaun could have a good life here. Knight, Scribe, Lancer: any child of Elder Maxson’s, even an adopted one, would practically have their future paved in gold. I know it’s selfish of us to ask you to consider this situation in such a short amount of time, but…you have a <em>lot </em>of bargaining power. In my eyes, you at least deserve the chance to try and leverage it, considering the weight of what everyone wants. You shouldn’t abuse that leverage, of course, but you’d definitely be in the right to ask for compensation. If, say, you asked him to support the Minutemen…”</p><p>            A plan began to flash before Nora’s eyes. Danse had no clue what he was <em>really</em> saying…but he was right. She could ask for almost anything as a bride-price, and Maxson would agree. His past actions proved it: his interest in helping her find her son, the subtle show of wealth with the ice, the Brotherhood wiping out super mutants in the east for the Minutemen for no apparent reason, even his granting her a full day’s rest --- all of it --- was a sign he was willing to negotiate the marriage rather than drag her to the altar.</p><p>            One questioned remained: what could possibly be worth asking for in exchange for Nora no longer being Nora <em>Mulyer</em>?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. The Keys To The Kingdom (Pt. 1)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 27: In which Nora considers the implications of Elder Maxson's decisions.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM (Pt. 1)</h1><p>
  <em>“You can hear them/you can hear them banging on the tin/but my love won’t be saved/we’ll all be staring at the wave” – Miike Snow “Wave”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            The afternoon of New Year’s Day was spent gathering provisions for the upcoming return to the Glowing Sea. After returning to her bunk and trying unsuccessfully to take a nap, Nora began sorting through her things for what she’d need for the Glowing Sea.</p><p>            Rad-X, RadAway, antibiotics and Stimpaks were all in good supply. She needed to stop by the armor bay to retrieve her power armor, which was the main thing brought from Cambridge to the Prydwen on her behalf. She was also beginning to run a little low on ammunition, necessitating a stop to Proctor Teagan’s office. In Bay Three, Nora looked over her power armor before being approached by Proctor Ingram.</p><p>            “I fixed some of the damage. Jesus, Knight, that’s a nasty scar on your face”.</p><p>            “Nasty Courser,” Nora elaborated. At least Ingram wasn’t bringing up Maxson.</p><p>            “I heard,” Proctor Ingram said. “Didn’t carry a helmet with you?”</p><p>            “I had to track the Courser in plain clothes. We were afraid of drawing suspicion”.</p><p>            “I see…and he shot you right upside the face. At least it looks like the damage was just superficial. I gotta say, I love the haircut though”.</p><p>            “Yeah,” Nora joked. “Scavver special?”</p><p>            Ingram laughed. “If it bothers you that much, one of Cade’s scribes can polish it up for you. It’s no Diamond City Beauty Salon, but they’ll even up that side-shave. Anyway, I fixed up the armor for you. Just general maintenance. I figured you’d appreciate it”.</p><p>            <em>What I really appreciate is someone treating me like they always do</em>, Nora thought to herself, before looking back at Ingram. “Thanks”.</p><p>            From the armor bay, she went to Proctor Teagan’s shop and got a completely different type of conversation.</p><p>            “There she is!” A drunken Teagan grinned at her. “I’ve been hearing <em>many</em> things about you”.</p><p>            “Uh…Proctor? I’m just here for ammunition”.</p><p>            <em>Please don’t call me Lady Maxson.</em></p><p>            “Ammunition? Ammunition?! Knight, I’ve got lots of things here for you. Ammunition isn’t the half of it. What kind of ammunition you need though? 10mm? Fusion cell? Those are your usual preferences, right?”</p><p>            “Yeah,” she said curtly, trying to complete the transaction as soon as possible to get out of talking to Teagan. “Maybe a couple boxes worth of each? How much? I’ve got a lot of Caps tucked away…”</p><p>            “Well…normally it’s about seven-hundred for this much,” Teagan added, “but for the future Lady Maxson…” A few passing soldiers could be seen double-taking at Nora.</p><p>            <em>Goddammit Teagan.</em></p><p>“Seven-hundred Caps, right,” Nora said quickly, almost throwing down several strings of one-hundred Caps. “This should cover it”.</p><p>            “Hey! Wait! I need to count out your change!”</p><p>            Before Teagan could finish protesting, Nora had already bolted up the stairs to the research labs on the Prydwen. Senior Scribe Neriah and Proctor Quinlan paid out a total of five-hundred Caps for the blood samples and technical documents Nora had scrounged up while out on her travels. Better yet, they were either too busy or sensible to make their conversations with her a repeat of what had just happened with Proctor Teagan. Having an excess of time on her hands for the day, Nora decided to increase her knowledge of gun and armor smithing. Proctor Quinlan had thankfully taken the same approach as Proctor Ingram in regards to addressing, or rather <em>not</em> addressing the situation with Elder Maxson.</p><p>            “Here’s some fine reading material about weapons and armor modifications,” Quinlan beamed, handing her a stack of magazines. “I ask only that you return them before my office closes tonight”.</p><p>            “Thank you Proctor,” Nora smiled, heading next door to Knight-Captain Cade’s office. She was dreading a conversation about Maxson with Knight-Captain Cade in particular, but the medic had proven that he was capable of discretion in the past. Besides, she still had a ghoul bite to deal with.</p><p>            “Knight-Captain?” The infirmary was surprisingly empty. She’d caught Knight-Captain Cade at a rare moment of leisure time.</p><p>            “Oh! Knight! Good to see you. Something I can help you with?”</p><p>            “Don’t panic, please, but yesterday I was bitten by a ghoul”.</p><p>            “<em>Yesterday</em>?!”</p><p>            “I said don’t panic!”</p><p>            “Knight, are you aware of what feral ghouls eat? Dammit, I’ll need to immediately start de-contamination…”</p><p>            “No, no. Wait. Let me show you,” Nora reassured him, before going behind a privacy curtain and partially undoing the top part of her clothing. There was definitely a small injury on her right clavicle, but Knight-Captain Cade was now understanding why Nora hadn’t pressed the issue immediately.</p><p>            “Looks like you’ve already cleaned this up. I see no signs of infection. If you hadn’t told me, I would have thought this was just a scratch”. He came closer and examined the wound carefully.</p><p>            “Last time I got bitten by a ghoul, it was much worse. Ask Paladin Danse. Scribe Haylen had to teach me how to make antibiotics”.</p><p>            “I don’t remember this, Knight. I take it you had yet to join the Brotherhood?”</p><p>            “This was way back when I first <em>met</em> the Paladin”.</p><p>            “Oh, the bite on your arm,” Cade said, remembering the reports. “Right. <em>That</em> was definitely much worse than this. Seems your armor blocked most of the blow. I guess I really was worried over nothing”.</p><p>            “My compliments to whoever re-did my Vault Suit’s tactical lining”.</p><p>            “Proctor Teagan,” Knight-Captain Cade said curtly. “He’s really good with that sort of thing. Elder Maxson’s armored jacket, for example? Teagan’s magnum opus. I don’t think your Vault Suit got quite the same treatment, but he definitely saved you from that ghoul”.</p><p>            Cade turned back to his desk. “I’m still going to give you a topical antibiotic to be on the safe side, but I’m pleased to report you’re going to be fine. Just be more careful, next time, huh? Now, any other medical complaints? Is that chest pain subsiding?”</p><p>            “I feel <em>much</em> better,” Nora said.</p><p>            “While we’re here, I might as well take a look. Mind pulling your shirt down a bit lower?”</p><p>            Cade pulled the curtain fully closed just to be on the safe side. Nora removed her shirt completely for a moment so Cade could take a look, hoping that this visit would remain as clinical as it had been.</p><p>            “Your mastitis seems to be cleared. I think we can stop giving you the antibiotics. Now, I’m going to want you to avoid alcohol for another two days while the last dregs of the drugs leave your system, but as long as your symptoms don’t return, we’ll mark that case as cured. Go ahead and put your shirt back on. Any other complaints?”</p><p>            “I’ve…” she was a bit embarrassed. “I’ve been spotting”.</p><p>            “Oh, well that’s normal. It’s been a bit, biologically, since you gave birth, and you haven’t breastfed your son in months. Your body is just reverting back to normal. No other concerns or abnormalities, right?”</p><p>            “No”.</p><p>            “Any actual periods yet?”</p><p>            “No”.</p><p>            “You’re not completely back to normal then, but that’s fine. There’s a million things in the world that could be delaying it: stress, psychological trauma, intense physical demands, the list goes on and on… if you notice anything concerning, you let me know immediately, but other than that, I’d say you’re doing just fine”.</p><p>            He stepped out of the bounds of the curtain. “Let me get that salve. I’ll be right back”.</p><p>            While he was out, Nora adjusted her shirt, unbuttoning it halfway to make it easier to put on the salve. Suddenly, she heard heavy footsteps: combat boots, not power armor. Someone had just walked in.</p><p>            “Anything to report, Knight-Captain Cade?”</p><p>            The voice was clearly Elder Maxson’s. Nora could hear the infirmary door close behind him.</p><p>            “Only one incident of note, Elder. Aspirant Rayburn returned from his squad’s patrol in the eastern Commonwealth. The area’s a bit safer with the return of the Minutemen to various settlements, but…well”.</p><p>            “What happened?”</p><p>            “Aspirant Rayburn had…lesions. On his pelvic area. He’s currently at the ground-level infirmary on the airport”.</p><p>            “I don’t like where this is going. Let me guess, he fraternized with some wastelander and caught something?”</p><p>            “The lesions are consistent with the type only gained by fraternization with a <em>ghoulified </em>wastelander. He took so long to report it that I might need to amputate”.</p><p>            “Disgusting,” Elder Maxson shuddered. “Though I suppose it’ll factor into his disciplinary review. We’ll delay judgment until he’s no longer under your care”. After a moment of what was undoubtedly Cade and Maxson both swallowing their disgust at the matter, Maxson could be heard speaking again.</p><p>            “Any word on Knight Mulyer?”</p><p>            <em>Danse was right, he really DOES ask about me a lot.</em> Nora fumed.</p><p>            “Uh…about that, Elder”. Cade could be heard taking something out of one of the shelves full of chems. She could hear no other sounds. Suddenly, she realized that Cade was probably pointing to the curtain. Sure enough, a moment later, Elder Maxson suddenly opened the curtain forcefully only to get an eyeful of Nora’s semi-exposed chest.</p><p>            She screamed. A very embarrassed Elder promptly <em>jumped</em>, out of shock, before regaining control of himself and sliding the curtain back to its original position.</p><p>            “I’ll wait outside,” he said sternly. “Sorry”.</p><p>            Nora was enraged, shoving the curtain out of the way much to the shock of both Cade and Maxson.</p><p>            “Oh <em>no</em> you don’t! If you’re going to ask about my medical history with no due cause, I think I’d like us <em>both</em> to be in the room when you do it!” The silence was so all-encompassing that Cade could hear his own heartbeat echoing in his ears. <em>He </em>was struggling not to look at Maxson, who was now in the awkward position of <em>not</em> being able to leave while Mulyer was accosting him, but also <em>not </em>being able to make direct eye-contact with her.</p><p>            “Knight,” the Elder said gruffly.</p><p>            “Well, Elder?” Nora spat.</p><p>            “Your shirt is…ahem…<em>not up to the regulation</em>”.</p><p>            “Well <em>of course</em> it isn’t. I’m in the infirmary, about to be given a topical antibiotic for a ghoul bite to the shoulder, since you’re so eerily interested”.</p><p>            “A ghoul bite to the shoulder?” Maxson looked at Nora for a second incredulously, blushed (her shirt was still unbuttoned), and then averted his gaze to Cade while inching forward to put the curtain back into place.</p><p>            “You didn’t report that a Knight had been <em>bitten</em> by a ghoul, Cade?”</p><p>            “I—”</p><p>            Cade’s explanation was interrupted by Nora leaning forward and grabbing Maxson’s wrist to prevent him from putting her behind the curtain. Maxson looked back at her, both angry and incredulous, this time just accepting that he was getting an <em>astonishing </em>view of Knight Mulyer’s brassiere, and what was underneath them.</p><p>            “That’s funny, <em>ten seconds after I told him</em> doesn’t <em>seem</em> like enough time to file a report to you”.</p><p>            “Oh,” Maxson said, pulling his hand back from Nora’s grip. “Well, that explains Cade, but not you. How’d you go outside, get bitten by a ghoul, and come back here in the span of one afternoon?”</p><p>            “This happened right after I got the Courser data, on my way back to the Prydwen”.</p><p>            “<em>You were bitten yesterday?!”</em></p><p>            “I’m <em>fine</em>, Maxson”. Out of annoyance, she completely yanked apart the remaining buttons, giving Maxson a <em>full</em> view of her front torso. “It barely broke the skin. If it hadn’t been a ghoul’s mouth, I wouldn’t have brought it to his attention <em>at all. </em>Quit. Fussing”.</p><p>            “You could have gotten <em>really</em> sick”.</p><p>            “Do I <em>look</em> infected to you? It’s not like you’re not looking!” The young Elder’s face became a shade of scarlet Nora had never seen before. Cade had already moved to shut the door, scolding Nora.</p><p>            “Hardly appropriate, Knight?”</p><p>            “No, what’s hardly appropriate is Maxson acting like he’s my husband without bringing up two words about it to me? What gives <em>you</em> the right to keep asking after me like that? Does patient privacy not exist in the Brotherhood?”</p><p>            “Not when it comes to <em>me</em>,” Elder Maxson reminded her. “You heard the conversation Knight-Captain Cade and I had about the Aspirant down at the airport, I’m sure. It’s my job to know everything. Button your shirt, Knight, that’s an order”.</p><p>            “Fine,” Nora sighed, re-doing her buttons. “Guess I don’t need those antibiotics”.</p><p>            “You can undress and continue your medical examination when it’s more appropriate”.</p><p>            “Ah, so clearly the wound <em>doesn’t</em> require immediate attention. You were worried over nothing”.</p><p>            “You’re going to get yourself scrubbing the women’s latrines with a toothbrush if you keep testing my patience,” Elder Maxson warned, moving to leave the room.</p><p>            “Not ready for marriage, are you, Elder? Lovers annoy each other a lot. Although, they do <em>also</em> tell each other big decisions, like when one of them wants to start a relationship with the other! Y’know, <em>instead of telling half the ship first</em>”.</p><p>            He’d stopped in his tracks. Cade began to wonder what manner of punishment was waiting for Nora before Maxson turned around and looked back at Nora concernedly.</p><p>            “Cade, give the Knight her medicine. Knight, when you’re finished here, I’ll be outside”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Maxson had led Nora back to the officer’s barracks, leading Nora to believe that they were taking the stairs down to the Command Deck. As she approached the railing, she noticed Maxson go <em>around</em> the circular staircase, instead heading to the last room at the end of the barracks.</p><p>            His.</p><p>            “Where are you going, Knight?”</p><p>            “I thought we were going to the Command Deck”.</p><p>            “We’re not. We’ll be having lunch here. We clearly have <em>volumes</em> to talk about”.</p><p>            <em>I’d better not be on the menu</em>.</p><p>            Maxson’s quarters were astonishingly spacious, featuring an attached office and a private bathroom. The rest of the unit looked like a post-apocalyptic studio apartment. There was a neatly-made bed tucked into one corner and a wardrobe full of Maxson’s iconic black flight suits on the corner across. Above the bed was a flag of the Brotherhood. A third corner of the room had a table and a chair with a radio and some books. Across from that was a bureau containing Maxson’s personal effects. There were a couple photographs on the shelves and some old toys from Maxson’s youth, revealing a bit of sentimentality in the young leader.</p><p>            “Lunch isn’t going to get you out of explaining yourself to me,” Nora warned him.</p><p>            “No, Knight. It’s just going to be a <em>long </em>explanation. We might as well eat”.</p><p>            “And what are we having? I don’t see a kitchen in here”.</p><p>            “A squire usually brings up something from the mess hall. I didn’t know what you wanted, so I just asked for two of what I usually get”.</p><p>            “Which is…?”</p><p>            “Brahmin sandwich. Easy to eat while I’m working. Just water too”.</p><p>            He had Nora sit down at the table in the center of the room. There were four chairs present, indicating Maxson had company over relatively frequently. They both stared at each other in silence for a moment as Nora contemplated what question to ask first.</p><p>            “Did you order Danse to have me join the Brotherhood?”</p><p>            “You already know the answer to that”.</p><p>            “Did you do it to have me marry you?”</p><p>            “No. At that time, I hadn’t even met you”.</p><p>            “So why’d you do it?”</p><p>            “Hmm?”<br/>            “Why’d you order him to twist my arm into joining?”</p><p>            “As you already know, your intelligence on the Institute”.</p><p>            “Nothing else?”</p><p>            “Nothing else”.</p><p>            “So your…decision. That was later?”</p><p>            Maxson hesitated for a moment before nodding.</p><p>            “It was suggested to me after you were formally made a Knight”.</p><p>            “<em>Suggested</em>? By whom?”</p><p>            “High-Elder Hardin”.</p><p>            “Someone from the Capital Wasteland?</p><p>            “Someone from the West Coast”.</p><p>            “And you went along with it?”</p><p>            “Well. I mean,” Maxson said a bit more hesitantly, “…why wouldn’t I?”</p><p>            “I-is that supposed to be a compliment?”</p><p>            “Yes”.</p><p>            “Oh, well I…why would he suggest something like that?”</p><p>            Maxson seemed a bit more prepared to answer that question, but a knock at the door interrupted the conversation with a young squire, no older than Shaun the last time Nora had seen him, carrying up two sandwiches wrapped in paper and two canisters of purified water in a small basket.</p><p>            “Thank you, Squire,” Maxson had said, after the child soldier set the basket down on the table.</p><p>            “Yes sir. Have a good lunch, sir. Ma’am”.</p><p>            “I’m having trouble getting used to that…” Nora sighed, once the squire had left and closed the door. They could both see a couple of soldiers gawking into Elder Maxson’s quarters, peeking to see if the rumors were really true. Elder Maxson shot them an angry glare, both scaring them off and confirming their suspicions that Nora Mulyer and Elder Maxson were <em>up to something</em>.</p><p>            “You’re right. The soldiers are getting a bit…<em>disruptive</em>. I can see why you were upset”.</p><p>            “You’re not the one they’ve been treating like a priceless diamond all morning without any explanation”.</p><p>            Maxson smirked. “Most people don’t complain about that”.</p><p>            “Sorry, Elder. I’m not royalty”.</p><p>            “I guess it’s a bit stranger when you’re <em>not </em>used to it. Well, we’re getting off topic. You asked me why someone from the West Coast Brotherhood would suggest that I marry you. Here’s High-Elder Hardin’s rationale: I’m sure you’re aware that the Brotherhood have a vested interest in the Commonwealth. I knew that the leaders of the Commonwealth would have to be reasoned with after the Institute’s downfall. I just didn’t realize the most capable leader in the Commonwealth would be you”.</p><p>            “<em>I’m </em>the most capable leader in the Commonwealth? Not Mayor McDonough or Mayor Hancock? I mean,” she joked, “I guess I’m the prettiest”.</p><p>            “By a <em>long</em> shot, considering one’s a fat man and one’s a ghoul,” Maxson said, making a face of visible disgust. Nora found herself nearly choking with laughter on a bite of brahmin sandwich.</p><p>            “Knight. Think about it for a moment. The Minutemen had fallen into disrepair before you appeared. From the intelligence I had on them from the various reconnaissance teams that have cut through the Commonwealth, I didn’t think I’d be working with them much at all. In the span of mere months, you, a newcomer, have encouraged them back from the brink of total defeat. Now they’re the governing force in the northwest, and they’re not far from spreading their influence to the coastline. I don’t need to advise you on that, they are <em>your</em> people”.</p><p>            “Regardless. What started as intelligence gathering on you for our plans after the Institute revealed that you’re actually the most advantageous leader to have on our side. When our reports were reviewed about you by my superiors in the Capital Wasteland, they took it a step further and… well”.</p><p>            “So that’s how this whole marriage debacle got into your head? You were <em>ordered </em>to try and make me ‘Lady’ Maxson, to broker an alliance with the Minutemen? At least you’re honest”.</p><p>            “Not <em>orders</em>,” Maxson corrected her. “Orders would be unsound. Just…encouragement. I’m getting older, and I’m Roger Maxson’s only living descendant. I’ve been under pressure to get married for a while now. You’re not the first woman I was asked about”.</p><p>            “But I’m apparently the first one you’ve actually asked. <em>Oh!</em> Wait. No you didn’t”.</p><p>            “I’ve never done this before,” Maxson said bluntly. “Actually, this entire situation has never really been done before: our family always intermingled with the descendants of other established Brotherhood families, but here in the Commonwealth, my options were less varied. I broached the subject with some others who were present when High-Elder Hardin’s recommendations involving future plans in the Commonwealth were made. Despite the relatively high clearance necessary for the briefing, word obviously got out. Ultimately that’s something I have to take responsibility for”.</p><p>            “I still don’t understand why you wouldn’t just broach the subject directly”.</p><p>            “Well, I tried, but it didn’t go as planned. My superiors first advised me on the matter shortly before Christmas. Since I was still evaluating their recommendations when you left, I didn’t say anything: I wasn’t sure. When you came back, I felt more confident in their decision, but I was still indecisive, and you were ill with radiation poisoning. After I heard about your extreme success hunting the Courser, I was convinced you were as promising as they suggested”.</p><p>            “Even though I came back with half my face burned off?”</p><p>            “I’m not a man with anything against a battle-scar. I’m just glad you didn’t lose your eye or ear”.</p><p>            “Well, at least it doesn’t matter if I’m pretty”.</p><p>Maxson took a sip from his water. “Who said you weren’t?”</p><p>            He watched the roles reverse as Nora’s face went scarlet for a moment before continuing, “I didn’t see you again until last night. I figured it would be unbecoming to just <em>ask</em>, but…well. I tried to keep you on the Command Deck for a while to test the waters”.</p><p>            “And then Danse showed up,” Nora sighed.</p><p>            “Bit of a mood-killer, Knight”.</p><p>            “<em>Mood-killer</em>. What were you planning that night?”</p><p>            “Nothing unseemly. I just figured I’d put forward an offer. I’ll give you credit: you don’t have the same motivations as most soldiers I deal with. If you told most other women on this ship they might wind up marrying the Elder, they’d fight each other for the position. You seem perfectly content not taking on that position, and I didn’t need Danse to tell me why that might be”. Nora noticed that his eyes had shifted down to the table. He was staring at her wedding ring.</p><p>            “Danse said you were ‘sympathetic’ to that”.</p><p>            “I am. Some in the West Coast Brotherhood consider your first family a secondary objective at best. He was ripped from your husband’s arms in his infancy and raised by the Institute. As far as they’re concerned, he’s just another Institute citizen now”.</p><p>            “I will <em>not</em> let you make him a casualty of war”.</p><p>            “Disregard them; they’re all the way in California”.</p><p>            “And if they order you to bomb the Institute before I can get him out?”</p><p>            “I won’t shed a single tear when that scourge upon humanity is eliminated but fighting a war against the Institute is a <em>complicated</em> affair. Without giving away any classified information, I suspect we’re several months off from mounting any major offensives, at the minimum. You’ve proven yourself a smart woman: I’m sure you’ll think of something, and I’m not unwilling to put forward suggestions provided I get workable intelligence. Seem fair?”</p><p>            He spoke with conviction. Nora had come to distrust the Brotherhood, particularly after the incident with K1-98. The only reason she hadn’t turned away completely from the fold was because there was no denying that they were the most prepared to take on the Institute. She would need that kind of backing when she confronted the Institute. With Maxson making it clear that the Brotherhood ultimately meant to <em>stay</em> in the Commonwealth, she wondered if she’d need to stick around longer. A chilling realization crept through her mind: marrying Arthur Maxson was one of the only surefire ways to make the worst elements in the Brotherhood think twice about wanton, bloody conquest. As much distaste she had for the title ‘Lady Maxson’, it was a better deterrent than any weapons or defenses the Minutemen had in their entire disposal.</p><p>            As much as Maxson was trying to sugarcoat it, his mention of Nora’s title as the General being a factor of his attraction hinted at a much <em>darker</em> threat from the West Coast Brotherhood --- something she’d only seen on old-school Minutemen propaganda and historic papers from Boston’s history until now --- join or die.</p><p>“Make this easy on us both, Nora. I may have come here to spear-head a war, but I’d prefer peace, and I know you feel the same. What can I offer up to make this an agreeable arrangement?”</p><p>            “If I become your wife, do I have to leave the Brotherhood? Or the Minutemen?”</p><p>            “The Minutemen, no. The Brotherhood, sort of. You’d still hold your rank for ceremonial purposes, but you’d be out of the chain of command. Conflict of interest and what not”.</p><p>            “Understandable”.</p><p>            “So? Would you do it?”</p><p>            He was being blunt this time, at least. With the proverbial cards being laid on the table, Nora saw no other choice but to state the truth.</p><p>            “A lot of people in the Commonwealth worry about the Brotherhood, Arthur,” Nora said sternly. “Some people want you gone. They’re afraid of you, and considering the worst impulses of the Brotherhood, they have reason to be”.</p><p>            “The Brotherhood should not be conducting themselves in a way that obstructs innocents,” Maxson spat.</p><p>            “The Brotherhood conduct themselves how the Brotherhood tells them to conduct themselves, from what I’ve seen,” Nora sighed. “And at the end of the day, you’re your own organization with your own beliefs and ideals. I can’t claim to command you, and I can’t expect you to agree with everything I think on how Commonwealth politics should go”.</p><p>            “However,” she looked at Maxson sternly. “If you want me to just lie back and hand you the keys to the kingdom, you’re going to need to co-operate with me at keeping the peace you claim to prefer”.</p><p>            “I’m not saying I <em>wouldn’t, </em>but you know we came here to fight a war?” Maxson warned, adding, “I just don’t want to be coerced into making an impossible promise”.</p><p>            “I’m not talking about threats like the Institute or super mutants,” Nora said. “I’m talking about everyone else. Two-hundred and ten years ago, I watched my home be destroyed by atomic hellfire and a doomed war. That war cost me my husband and paved the way for me to lose my son. When I get him back, I want him to live in a peace. You want me? <em>You help me maintain that peace</em>. That’s my first condition. Don’t worry, it’s also my worst”.</p><p>            Maxson was silent. Nora finished the last of her food before getting up from the table.</p><p>            “We can talk about the lesser conditions tomorrow. Those are the smaller things, so I don’t really see you having a problem with them. You think about what I said. I’m going to take the rest of today off”.</p><p>            “Name your other conditions,” Maxson ordered her. “Just so I know you’re not lying to me”.</p><p>            Nora turned around. “Shaun can’t be <em>coerced</em> to become a Brotherhood soldier like I was. If he chooses that life, so be it, but it’s to be just that: a choice”.</p><p>            “I accept that”.</p><p>            “…you agree to support the Commonwealth Minutemen”.</p><p>            “I already knew that one was coming. Hell, I was counting on it. You’ve got my vote of confidence”.</p><p>            “Good, Elder. Last one”.</p><p>            She hesitated. Maxson cocked an eyebrow for a moment before she responded.</p><p>            “I…I’m not sure I’m ready to have another child yet”.</p><p>            “Knight-Captain Cade doesn’t seem to think you’re too far off”.</p><p>            “He only assessed that on a physical level. Why did I know <em>that</em> was why you’d been asking him so much about me?”</p><p>            “It wasn’t the <em>only</em> reason, Nora”.</p><p>            She scowled at him. “I’m going to ask again, Arthur. I need time before I just go and get pregnant again. Yes, or no?”</p><p>            Maxson swirled his remaining drink in his cup.</p><p>            “This one’s a bit difficult for me to answer”.</p><p>            “Well, if you don’t agree, I suppose I can just go”.</p><p>            “I didn’t say I was <em>declining</em>. I said it was difficult to answer”.</p><p>            He got up and walked over to her. A few inches of height difference seemed to cause him to tower over her, but the sharpness of his gaze gave way to something softer. One of his hands reached up slightly towards the scarred side of her face, but then Maxson pulled away in hesitation as his brain decided on a verbal answer. <em>What is that in his eyes?</em> <em>Sympathy</em>?</p><p>            “You understand one of the reasons this whole thing is coming up is because I’m being <em>pressured</em> to have children, right? I’m not saying <em>I </em>object to your condition --- if anything I think it might be good for you to wait --- but I’m one of the only people who thinks that”.</p><p>            “Well, I don’t need anyone else to agree to that. You’re the one asking me to marry you. <em>You </em>tell me”.</p><p>            She saw Maxson let out a sharp exhale, thinking for a moment, before he gave her a surprising answer: “the Brotherhood will never accept that answer. As soon as we’re married, they’ll expect a child, and even I can’t tell them <em>no</em>”.</p><p>            “You make me think you’re saying yes and then y—”</p><p>            “<em>But</em>”.</p><p>            “But?”</p><p>            “…I’m a busy man. I’m sure you’re only going to become a busier woman in the days ahead. Let’s suppose, <em>hypothetically, </em>that we had a protracted engagement for work related reasons and <em>forgot</em> to immediately tie the knot for a few months. Maybe a year, maximum. Just understand I can only be <em>so</em> forgetful”.</p><p><em>Seems I’m not the only diplomat in the room, </em>Nora thought to herself.</p><p>“I see…I suppose I could <em>hypothetically </em>agree to that”. She looked at him wearily. The look on his face suggested he was just as stressed as she was.</p><p>            “…that’s all your conditions stated, Knight. I’ve agreed to them”.</p><p>            “All but one”.</p><p>            “Yes,” Maxson said. “All but one”.</p><p>            “I understand that the first one’s a bit to chew on, Elder. I won’t expect a response tonight. Will there be anything else?”</p><p>            “No, Knight. Enjoy the rest of your day off”.</p><p>#</p><p>            The Vertibird designated as ‘Banshee’ was reserved for the Glowing Sea operation. Danse was surprised to see that Nora had arrived first. Elder Maxson was also waiting on the bridge.</p><p>            <em>Am I late</em>?</p><p>            He made his way towards the boarding dock only to see Nora climb unto the plane. Maxson and Nora were actively discussing something, but Danse couldn’t hear a word of their short conversation over the sounds of flight machinery before turning around and approaching Danse.</p><p>            “I’ll get it done,” Elder Maxson told Nora, before looking over at Danse.</p><p>            “Paladin, you’re right on time”.</p><p>            “Elder,” he saluted. “We’re leaving as scheduled”.</p><p>            “See that it’s a quick mission”.</p><p>            “Yes sir”.</p><p>            “You should know that Knight Mulyer and I have come to an arrangement, Paladin”. Elder Maxson said softly. “I’d like to thank you for your part in keeping the situation from getting out of hand”.</p><p>            “Of course, sir. Congratulations”.</p><p>            “Don’t congratulate either of us. This war is <em>far</em> from over. Now, there’s a promotion to Sentinel for you riding on a successful infiltration of the Institute, Danse. Do whatever it takes to assist Mulyer in getting the final pieces of the puzzle from Virgil”.</p><p>            <em>Holy shit. </em>The Paladin thought to himself. There hadn’t been a Sentinel working under Maxson in years.</p><p>            “Oh, and Paladin?”</p><p>            “Yes sir?”</p><p>            “You have full leave to handle this operation as you see fit. I’m trusting a bloodless second stage in our occupation of the Commonwealth to you, among other things, and I can’t think of anything more valuable to trust you with. If she doesn’t come back alive from the Glowing Sea, <em>don’t bother coming back</em>”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. The Keys to the Kingdom (Pt. 2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 28: In which Nora returns to the Glowing Sea for the keys to the Institute.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM (Pt. 2)</h1><p>
  <em>“Minutes pass and those days seem long ago (oh-oh)/A distant voice/one that I used to know/There’s a voice and it’s trying to drag me down/if you go then I’m goin’ with you now” – Kotomi &amp; Ryan Elder “Don’t Look Back”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            The second trip to the Glowing Sea mirrored the first in everything except deathclaws and being lost. To Danse’s relief, knowing where Virgil could be found this time made things significantly easier. This was all the better considering Nora was noticeably less talkative than the last time they had entered the Glowing Sea. His best attempts at making conversation were thwarted with no apparent reason.</p><p>            “We’ll be at Virgil’s in no time with that Courser data”.</p><p>            “Yep”.</p><p>            “You must be excited. We’re so close to finally being at the Institute’s door”.</p><p>            “Yep”.</p><p>            “You must have thought about what that encounter will look like? Do you have a plan on extracting your son yet?”</p><p>            “Nope”.</p><p>            “Why not?”<br/>            “Don’t have enough information yet”.</p><p>            “That was <em>almost</em> a full sentence, Knight”.</p><p>            “Yep”.</p><p>            “Why are you ignoring me?”</p><p>            No response.</p><p>            “Knight!”</p><p>            “<em>Now </em>I’m ignoring you,” Nora said curtly, causing Danse to cringe with anger.</p><p>            He stopped himself from doing anything rash. The upcoming clash with the Institute and the fallout from the situation with Elder Maxson would put <em>anyone</em> on edge. For her sake, he just had to decide to be the better man here. Besides, the sooner this whole ordeal was over with, the sooner he could be back on the Prydwen again.</p><p>            When they finally made it to Virgil’s cave, they were greeted to a familiar super mutant drawing with a crayon on a large piece of canvas. Virgil was noticeably relieved to see them.</p><p>            “Wasn’t sure I’d see you again. You manage to find what we needed?”</p><p>            “I have the code,” Nora said curtly.</p><p>            “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” Virgil mused. “You <em>did </em>get rid of Kellogg, after all. Not too much of a leap to take down a Courser. How’d you manage to get the chip decoded so quickly?”</p><p>            “Does it matter?”</p><p>            Danse interjected, “it <em>does</em> matter. You keep strange company sometimes”.</p><p>            “I wasn’t asking you, Paladin”.</p><p>            “I guess it doesn’t matter,” Virgil said, sensing an impending argument and stopping it in its tracks. “The point is that you got the data. You’re not the only one who’s been busy. While you were gone, I did the best I could from memory and things I’d heard over the years. I have some schematics for you”.</p><p>            “These ‘schematics’ look like a child’s drawing,” Danse spat. “Are you sure you’re not trying to kill this woman?”</p><p>            “Believe me, killing her is the last thing I want. Try drawing anything with these hands. Fine motor skills have gone to shit…”</p><p>            “Will this device get me into the Institute?”</p><p>            “It <em>needs </em>to. For both our sakes. I’m not helping you for free, woman. I left my only hope at being normal again in the FEV laboratory of the Institute. Hopefully the cure for the FEV virus is still locked up in my old lab. I need you to find that cure and bring it to me”.</p><p>            “The <em>cure</em> for FEV?” Nora said.</p><p>            “That’s impossible,” Danse mentioned. “No such thing exists”.</p><p>            “It <em>is </em>possible. I made it as part of my work, but the only way to know for sure if it’ll work on the wasteland…well. It’s only fair that I should be the test subject this time”.</p><p>            “I’ll see what I can do. No promises, Virgil”.</p><p>            “Well, you’ll need to build the device first, so I understand. Can you, though? I mean, build the device”.</p><p>            “The Brotherhood can manage,” Danse added.</p><p>            “The Brotherhood seem like a capable group,” Virgil mused.</p><p>            “And I’m a capable woman,” Nora added. “I’ll manage. Anything else I need to know?”<br/>            “Well, I want to be clear that this isn’t my area of expertise. I was Bioscience, not Engineering or Advanced Systems”.</p><p>            “I know that. Anything else?”</p><p>            “You know the craziest part of the design? That classical music station that plays in the Commonwealth? That’s the carrier for the relay signal. You’ve been hearing it all along”.</p><p>            “Damn,” Danse said. “I used to love that station”.</p><p>            “Good to know,” Nora mused.</p><p>#</p><p>            Understanding that Nora was in a particularly foul mood, Danse rushed slightly ahead of her to check for dangers between the duo and their extraction point outside the Glowing Sea. His mood soured considerably when he looked out at the desolate fields of the Glowing Sea and saw <em>deathclaws</em>.</p><p>            “Mulyer…” he eyed the Red Rocket. “We need to hide”.</p><p>            “We can take a deathclaw”.</p><p>            “We can’t take three of them”.</p><p>            “<em>Fucking hell</em>”.</p><p>            “My thoughts exactly, Knight. If we’re quiet, we can sneak into the Red Rocket and wait them out. We’ve got enough provisions to wait a day”.</p><p>            “And if they don’t leave within a day, Paladin?”</p><p>            “Pray to the Creator at least two of them <em>do</em>”.</p><p>            Slowly, carefully, they inched around the hill to the exposed door of the Red Rocket, Nora checking the building for threats while Danse watched the rear for any impending deathclaws. Two of the animals were fighting while a third watched.</p><p>            <em>Great. Mating season, </em>Danse’s mind bemoaned. As if Mother Nature couldn’t make a deathclaw any more dangerous, it just <em>had</em> to add a period of time that included testosterone and fierce material instincts. The female deathclaw was so irradiated that its skin was <em>glowing</em>. Danse made this horrible realization as Nora ushered him inside and they shut the door.</p><p>            “Glowing deathclaws,” Danse said, horrified. “Like I needed to sleep, ever again”.</p><p>            “How long are they gonna be outside?”</p><p>            “A couple hours or so, maybe,” Danse guessed. “Hopefully this’ll pass quickly. The males fight, the winner continues nature, and then hopefully they all go home. I don’t think they noticed us.</p><p>            “So we’re stuck a couple of hours,” Nora mused. “Great. Well, what’s new with you?”</p><p>            “Actually, I wanted to ask you the same question. You seem…tense”.</p><p>            “Tense?”</p><p>            “You barely spoke to me while we made the trip to Virgil’s. Is something amiss?”</p><p>            Nora couldn’t suppress the laugh.</p><p>            “Danse, <em>everything</em> is amiss”.</p><p>            “Oh…” he trailed off. In the silence, Nora sat in a corner of the tilted Red Rocket and opened the compartment of her Pip-Boy. Danse watched with interest as Nora pulled out Nate’s picture and unfolded it.</p><p>            “Personal effects?” He said uncomfortably. “I…suppose they help keep up morale”.</p><p>            “Sure, Danse. Whatever you say”.</p><p>            She could feel the tears pooling up in her eyes, barely contained by the repeated blinks that attempted to clear her vision. All of her energy became concentrated on stopping any sobs from escaping her mouth. At least under her power armor helmet, Danse couldn’t see that she was losing the battle to stay stoic. Maybe he could <em>sense</em> it, though: she felt the shakes of power armor approaching her before noticing that he’d stopped to sit down and look at the picture.</p><p>            “Is that…<em>you</em>?” Danse was astonished. “The world looked so…different”.</p><p>            “Now you know what Bunker Hill looked like before it lost a few chunks”.</p><p>            “I never liked Bunker Hill much,” Danse grumbled. “A former military monument turned into a common swindler’s den. It’s downright disgusting how far humanity has fallen. I suppose I would have liked it better if I’d been there in your time, though”.</p><p>            “I never liked it much either, even back then,” Nora said. “When Nate came home, it was just a painful reminder of the war”.</p><p>            “He was deployed?”</p><p>            “Anchorage”.</p><p>            “<em>Anchorage</em>?”</p><p>            “<em>The</em> Anchorage,” Nora laughed. “My late husband was a frontline war hero. I remember the morning the bombs fell. We were getting ready for a trip down to Concord. He had to give a speech there that day. He was meant to give another one a couple weeks later in Cambridge. The Fraternal Post isn’t too far from the police department. My husband had a <em>locker</em> there with some of his war memorabilia and his dog tags”.</p><p>            “It’s just a super mutant hive now,” Danse lamented. “We haven’t burnt the place down yet because they use it more for <em>meat storage</em> than anything else”.</p><p>            “I’m surprised you didn’t blow the place to hell with super mutants inside”.</p><p>            “With Fort Strong cleared, it’s probably not far off the agenda”.</p><p>            “Yeah…” Nora said. “I suppose so. It’s all just old memories now, anyway. <em>Nate’s gone</em>”.</p><p>            Danse felt a dagger rip through his heart when he suddenly heard Nora’s voice <em>break</em>.</p><p>            “<em>And he’s been gone two-hundred and ten years, and I have left is a damn photo</em>!”</p><p>            All he could do at that moment was sit next to her, too afraid to hold her or address the situation as Nora balled her head into her hands and spent what felt like an eternity crumbling in silence. When he finally felt a good idea creep into his mind, he opened up a compartment on the arm of his power armor.</p><p>            “You aren’t the only one with a camera”.</p><p>            Nora took a moment to regain enough composure to look over at Danse, who was now holding up a photo of his own.</p><p>            “What is this…?”</p><p>            “The day before Cutler and I enlisted, we took a photo. I found a working camera in a scrapyard once. Probably could have made a fortune, but…I dunno. I just felt it would be a waste”.</p><p>            “Paladin Danse being sentimental,” Nora chuckled. “Did the deathclaws outside eat us, and I’m just in limbo?”</p><p>            “Once upon a time…” he said, in his best attempt to be comforting. “Cutler’s the blonde”.</p><p>            Nora began laughing hysterically, much to Danse’s confusion. “<em>You’re the brunette!</em>”</p><p>            “Nora, there’s only two of us in that picture…”</p><p>            “<em>You spiked your hair in a faux-hawk!</em>”</p><p>            Danse felt his face turn red. “I was a <em>teenager</em>”.</p><p>            “How old, how old? Seventeen? Eighteen?”</p><p>            “Somewhere around there. I’m not exactly sure, remember?”</p><p>            “God, how long ago was this?”</p><p>            “Long time ago,” Danse mused. “I came upon Rivet City in 2272, and I met Cutler the same year. We joined the Brotherhood in 2273, and we were part of the inaugural crew when the Prydwen was launched in 2282. Back then, the ship was under the control of Elder Ganzig, though…well. I guess he wasn’t the <em>worst</em> Elder we’ve ever had”.</p><p>            “You?” Nora laughed, “…shit-talk an Elder?? How bad was the worst one?”</p><p>            “We haven’t always had effective leadership. When I joined the Brotherhood, Elder Owen Lyons was still in charge. He died in 2278, and unfortunately his daughter Sarah took over and died the same year, in combat”.</p><p>            “Different Sarah than the one you mentioned when we were taking about the whole…<em>Maxson</em> debacle?”</p><p>            “No, the same. Maxson was just a <em>squire</em> then. He may look tough now, but I remember Maxson when was just a timid little boy hiding behind his tutors. God, I think he was <em>five</em> when I joined up”.</p><p>            Nora chuckled darkly, removing her helmet momentarily to wipe the last of her tears from her eyes.</p><p>            “You think you’re getting old? I was having Shaun when your great-great-great-grand-father was in diapers”.</p><p>            “Sorry,” Danse said.</p><p>            “Nah, don’t be. I got a laugh out of it. For a moment, you made me stop feeling sorry for myself. I appreciate it, Danse”. She put her helmet back on before tucking the photo back into her Pip-Boy’s compartment. The time on her Pip-Boy indicated a half-hour had passed. They could still hear a few unsettling noises outside. Danse dared not open the door until the sounds had passed, and the windows were fully-caked in two-hundred years of nuclear dust. While Danse put back his own memento and searched for something to eat, Nora considered whether or not to address the elephant in the room. Danse seemed to be either too reserved or too detached, <em>probably both</em>, to ask about the development between her and Arthur Maxson.</p><p>            “What do you think it’s going to be like when the war’s over?” By now, Danse had found what he was looking for: a package of Fancy Lad Snack Cakes.</p><p>            “Want one?”</p><p>            “Sure,” she said, taking a chocolate one from the package.</p><p>            “When the war’s over, huh? Well, I bet quite a few soldiers on the Prydwen will be eager to head home. I hear the occupation of the Commonwealth is long term, so Maxson will probably focus on developing a permanent presence here. We’ll almost definitely be developing the airport. Back in the Capital Wasteland, I’ve heard rumors they’re starting construction of another airship”.</p><p>            “Is the Prydwen the only airship like that?”</p><p>            “The only one <em>like that</em>. The West Coast Brotherhood have <em>fleets</em> of airships that aren’t quite as large as complex, but they’re good for getting troops from one shore of America to the other. Most of the time”.</p><p>            “Most of the time?”</p><p>            “Before my time, the West Coast lots dozens of airships to attacks. One large one went down in the Midwest, outside a place called Chicago. <em>Don’t get me started on the Brotherhood and Chicago</em>”.</p><p>            “What the hell happened in Chicago?”</p><p>            “An old ship that crash-landed in that area years ago is <em>still there</em>. Partially scavenged, sure, but …damn. That crash was before most of us were born. The great plains between the two sides of America were so badly ravaged from the war that the biggest challenge for the Brotherhood will be permanently uniting those two sides again. Maxson’s a capable leader, but I doubt it’ll happen in his lifetime”.</p><p>            “No, but maybe some other Maxson’ll rise from the ashes and do the job,” Nora said somewhat sardonically.</p><p>            “Yeah,” Danse said quietly, deciding to broach the subject. “…but you’ll have a big hand on if that happens”.</p><p>            “Pft,” Nora joked, though her words were audibly tinged with sadness. “Nate used to brag about being a distant descendant of President Lincoln. Looks like all these years later, I finally get to brag back. ‘My second son’s the next leader of the Brotherhood!’ and <em>it’s with some other man’s child</em>”. She shook her head in disgust.</p><p>            “Wife of the fucking year…” she mumbled.</p><p>            “You’re out here in the Glowing Sea <em>again</em> looking for your first husband’s child. Yes, your child, but <em>his</em> too. If I were your husband, I probably <em>would</em> call you the wife of the year”.</p><p>            Nora stared at Danse incredulously.</p><p>            “You’re kidding”.</p><p>            “I’m not,” Danse demanded. “It’s one of the things I like <em>most</em> about you. I like to think my separation from my parents was just an accident, but I can’t ever be too sure. Those questions are <em>always</em> in the back of my head, Nora. Sometimes I wonder if they abandoned me, if they searched for me, or if they just didn’t love me enough to look for me. You’re the mother I can only <em>hope</em> I had. Shaun’s lucky to have you, and your husband, Nathaniel? I don’t think he could have asked for his family to be in better hands”.</p><p>            He worried for a second that he could see Nora shedding a few more tears, but this time she was <em>smiling </em>at him,</p><p>            “Wow, Danse…I really needed that”.</p><p>            “Glad I could assist,” he said, still feeling a bit uncomfortable. These sort of <em>personal</em> conversations weren’t his forte.</p><p>            <em>She needed it though</em>. <em>Badly.</em></p><p>            The noises outside had ceased.</p><p>            “We should go,” Nora sighed, popping another round of Rad-X before putting her helmet back on. “I don’t intend on dying in a Red Rocket gas station”.</p><p>            “Agreed,” Danse said, packing up the remaining provisions. Being the first to rise and the closest to the door, Nora went to slowly open the door and peek outside to see if the deathclaws were gone. The noises of primal deathclaw rage --- at least, she hoped it was rage --- were gone.</p><p>            The door was stuck.</p><p>            <em>What the hell?</em> She thought to herself, pulling with a little more force. The door still resisted.</p><p>            <em>God I knew this building was too good to be true. That industrial-strength window is going to be hard to crawl out of.</em></p><p>
  <em>            Maybe if I just give this one more pull, I can—</em>
</p><p>The final pull did the trick almost <em>too </em>well, forcing the door to slide completely open. What Nora saw next made her heart skip a beat. Her blood froze over. If she were a weaker woman, she would have fainted. Later, she’d wish she had. Seven-hundred pounds of territorial mother deathclaw stood in front of her silently, eyes <em>fixated </em>on the door.</p><p>            “Mulyer?!” Danse had only <em>just</em> put the last bag across his back.</p><p>            Tanned, gnarled, glowing, irradiated leather illuminated the backdrop of the Glowing Sea’s barren visage behind it. Before either she or Danse could properly react, a full assortment of sharpened claws <em>stabbed</em> clean through the torso of Nora’s T-60 armor.</p><p>            “NORA!”</p><p>            The strength of the raging deathclaw pulled Nora clear out of Danse’s field of vision. He could feel the ground quake as the deathclaw and Nora fought above him. Quickly grabbing the Gatling he’d been given for the mission, he rushed out of the ruined gas station.</p><p>#</p><p>            It took <em>everything</em> Nora had to try and keep the deathclaw from overcoming her. The monster’s right arm was stuck, claws and all, in Nora’s power armor frame. Somehow, the deathclaw had <em>missed</em> most of her actual torso, instead hitting the outer portion of the metal frame and slicing superficial wounds on her skin. The deathclaw was just getting <em>more</em> furious, desperately working to shake Nora off of its arm as it snapped its jaws, barely missing Nora’s head repeatedly. Adrenaline, survival instinct, whatever one called it: something primal took over. Thinking only of never seeing Shaun’s face again, she felt her left side lock against the deathclaw’s right side.</p><p>            She wasn’t strong enough, even with the power armor, to topple the deathclaw over. She <em>did</em> make the struggle harder, partially immobilizing the deathclaw. She could hear another set of power armor running towards her, but the only thing in her field of vision was a very angry lizard.</p><p>            She felt her right arm manage to grab her rifle off of her back. Her thumb instinctively hit the safety: a practiced motion from the Brotherhood and the Minutemen. The rifle’s barrel founds its way directly under the deathclaw’s jawline.</p><p>            BANG.</p><p>            The hide was too thick.</p><p>            BANG. BANG, BANG. Irradiated blood splattered all over visor, drowning her vision in shades of red, green, and brown. The deathclaw was howling, but somehow she got the impression she was just making it <em>angri---</em></p><p>The piercing pain of <em>teeth</em> in her right arm caused her to lose control of her hand and drop the gun. She could feel another set of claws pierce through her torso, somehow <em>again</em> missing vital organs and simply catching the other side of her armor. The sound of a Gatling laser spinning up was faintly distinguishable in the air, but Nora heard a much more terrifying sound first.</p><p>            The sound of power armor being ripped to shreds. Pieces of metal and frame flew into the air as the sealed suit became nothing more than scrap metal. She could feel the concussive force of the deathclaw ramming its head into her visor while a subconscious warning echoed in her brain about her newfound exposure to the radiation. Cracks were forming on her vizor, and irradiated blood was dripping into her nose and mouth.</p><p>            <em>Congratulations. You get to die <strong>outside</strong></em> <em>the Red Rocket.</em> The voice sounded like Nate but warped. Sinister. Almost robotic and monotone.</p><p>            A hailstorm of Gatling laser fire suddenly surrounded Nora, with the deathclaw taking the brunt of the impact. A couple stray shots singed Nora’s arms and legs. Off-balance in an inoperable frame, Nora felt the metal shell that was supposed to protect her become a useless coffin, trapping her as she crumpled under the forces of gravity. She felt her damaged power armor helmet crack as her head smashed into the ruined concrete.</p><p>            And then, there was nothing.</p><p>#</p><p>            <em>War. War never changes.</em></p><p>How many times had Nate practiced that damned speech in the bathroom mirror? Once upon a time, Nora had rolled her eyes at him and insisted that he quit hogging the mirror so she could do her hair.</p><p>            Now, they were both dressed in Vault Suits, Nate facing away from Nora, monotonously practicing his speech again and again. Nora didn’t say a word, staring at her husband’s back as he continued droning on to an imaginary audience.</p><p>            <em>Years of consumption lead to shortages of every major resource. The entire world unraveled. Peace became a distant memory. It is now the year 2077. We stand on the brink of total war, and I am afraid for myself, for my wife, for my infant son, because if my time in the army taught me one thing, it’s that war, war never changes.</em></p><p>            “Nate?” She called after him. She didn’t answer. The bathroom light seemed to flicker for a moment. The hum of florescent lighting was giving her a headache. Her vision faded in and out, turning into a myriad of colors and shapes. The people and places around her seemed to be changing. The passage of time became incomprehensible. The world would grow heavy and dark, and then lighten up a bit again, with only the hum of florescent lighting remaining as a constant, tethering her to the world. As she finally began coming to, she noticed the figure of a man sitting over her. In the midst of strange colors and lights, he was barely distinguishable from the cacophony of formless color.</p><p>            She smiled. He seemed taken aback.</p><p>            <em>Nate?</em></p><p>            Her hand reached out and touched his face. Nate had never kept a beard. It was a <em>thin </em>beard, unlike the bushy one Maxson sported. This person also didn’t seem used to the idea of being touched, flinching a bit under her fingers.</p><p>            <em>Can you hear me</em>? The voice was <em>slightly</em> gruffer, with notes of relief and slight <em>panic</em>. In her stupor, the lights and sounds all seemed to echo and vibrate. Her headache was <em>extraordinary. </em>The hum of florescent lights finally subsided as the world began to give way to an unfamiliar medical setting. Wherever this was, it wasn’t the Prydwen.</p><p>            “Haylen said you were finally coming to,” Danse said with relief, very gently taking Nora’s limp-wristed hand and moving it back into a comfortable position.</p><p>            “Wha?” The recollections slowly began to make their way back to her: she was moments away from death at the Glowing Sea. How’d Haylen manage to make it that far?</p><p>            <em>Unless…</em></p><p>            “Take it easy. You’ve been out a couple days. Jesus, Mulyer, I thought we weren’t getting you back”.</p><p>            “Where are we?”</p><p>            “Cambridge?”</p><p>            “How’d we get here?”</p><p>            “I had a signal grenade and a distress pulser. Once we were out of the thickest parts of the radiation, I used them”.</p><p>            “So we flew to Cambridge? Did the plans make it to the Prydwen?”</p><p>            “They’re still in your Pip-Boy. I don’t know how to open it, and I didn’t want to crack it open and damage your things. I know you keep a holotape in there”.</p><p>            He sighed. “Besides, the plans were safe. <em>You</em>, we weren’t so sure about”.</p><p>            “I’m surprised you didn’t fly me to Cade”.</p><p>            “You wouldn’t have made the trip”.</p><p>            “That bad, huh?”</p><p>            “For a bit, you stopped breathing. Acute radiation poisoning. The Rad-X you took right before we left the Red Rocket barely kept you going. I started an IV and pumped you full of RadAway while we were waiting on the Vertibird, but between the lethal dose and the dehydration you started shutting down anyway”. His voice betrayed a <em>fear</em> Nora never expected. The battle-hardened Brotherhood Paladin didn’t seem to be afraid of much, but Nora’s brush with death had well and truly terrified him.</p><p>            “Danse, this had better not…” she winced, “…end in some sort of fucked up CPR story”. Her comment was meant more to bring back some levity into the conversation. For all his faults, when Danse <em>did</em> worry, it was enough to scare her too. Luckily, a chuckle from the Paladin indicated it worked.</p><p>            “Don’t worry. <em>Haylen</em> got you back, and she didn’t have to kiss you. You were here in her medical lab when the worst of it happened. She had some kind of respirator”.</p><p>            He looked at her sternly. “Oh. Maxson’s almost here”.</p><p>            “You’re kidding. I can barely sit up”.</p><p>            “You nearly <em>died. </em>If we didn’t have an outpost in Cambridge, you might well have. I <em>guess</em> I could have tried Diamond City, but I’ve heard one of their doctors is a complete quack”.</p><p>            “And Maxson wasn’t happy to hear it?”</p><p>            “I got quite the chewing out over the radio. I expect there’s another one coming once he’s here in person and he’s gotten a hold of the plans”.</p><p>            “Well…maybe we can avoid that”. Nora sighed. “Now that we have the plans, I’ve been meaning to talk to him about something. Speaking of which, can you help me sit up?”</p><p>            “I…” Danse winced. “I don’t wanna move you without Haylen. You were pretty beaten up”.</p><p>            “I don’t feel like I have any broken bones”.</p><p>            “Somehow you managed to avoid those, but you got bruises, muscle tears, lacerations, radiation poisoning, and god-knows-what-else. Your arm looked like swiss cheese. If it wasn’t for your power armor, you would have been torn to shreds, and we had to leave that mangled wreck behind. I sincerely <em>doubt</em> Cade will clear you for combat duty again for a while”.</p><p>            “Well, I need to sit up. Tell Haylen I’m hurting?”</p><p>            “Are you?” Danse said with concern.</p><p>            “If I say <em>yes</em>, will you help me?”</p><p>            “If I tell Haylen, she might not believe me. She gave you enough Med-X to fuel the Commonwealth chem trade”.</p><p>            “Sit me up or I sit myself up”.</p><p>            “You’re <em>incorrigible</em>,” Danse groaned. “It’s like having a child. <em>Fine</em>”. Moving very, very carefully, he helped Nora lift herself <em>just</em> enough to assume a sitting position. As soon as he’d sat back down, a stern knock could be heard at the door.</p><p>            <em>That’s not Haylen</em>, Nora told herself as Elder Maxson burst through the door. Danse rose sharply to offer a salute only to be completely ignored as Maxson turned his attention to Nora.</p><p>            “What the hell happened?”</p><p>            “Deathclaws,” Nora said. “<em>Plural</em>”.</p><p>            “Plural?” Elder Maxson seemed taken aback. Nora moved to get Danse off the hook before going any further.</p><p>            “Yep. If it hadn’t been for him, I’d be a gore puddle right now”.</p><p>            “<em>One</em> deathclaw is a serious threat, even for the Brotherhood”. Maxson pointed to the scar marring half his face before finishing making his point with the words, “I would know. I almost lost an eye”. Elder Maxson turned to Danse before asking “Why the hell would you engage that?”</p><p>            “We <em>didn’t</em>,” Nora deadpanned. “We took shelter in a ruined building. We just got a nasty surprise when we thought they’d left”.</p><p>            “You nearly came back in a box, Knight, because of a <em>surprise</em>”.</p><p>            “Spoken like a man who doesn’t like surprises”.</p><p>            “Not. <em>That.</em> Kind”.</p><p>            Nora felt sorry for Danse, being caught up in this exchange without being able to say a word. Still, at least <em>some</em> of Maxson’s fury had subsided. She wanted Danse out of the room before she riled Maxson up again.</p><p>            “Well, I’ve got another surprise for you: the plans are in my Pip-Boy, and I already have a plan on what to do with them”. It seemed to get Maxson’s attention.</p><p>            “You never fail to impress, Knight”.</p><p>            “I try”. She reached out instinctively and grabbed his arm, motioning him to sit.</p><p>            He couldn’t hide the fact that he was idealizing her. She could see the effect her actions were having on his face. Most of the Brotherhood saw a stern general, but Danse’s conversation with her in the Glowing Sea had reminded her that Maxson was barely older than Danse’s entire Brotherhood of Steel career. He was young and idealistic and at least <em>somewhat</em> malleable.</p><p>            <em>Keep that in mind going forward.</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0029"><h2>29. All The World's A Stage</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 29: In which two major players in the Commonwealth do everything they can to stay a step ahead from each other.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>8/8/2020: If this chapter looks a bit different than how you remember it, it's because one minor detail was added so that Chapter 30 would make more sense once it comes out!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE</h1><p>
  <em>“Anything you can do, I can do better/I can do anything better than you/no you can’t/yes I can/no you can’t/yes I can” – Ethel Merman “Anything You Can Do”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            Even a well-oiled military machine like the Brotherhood was susceptible to human vices. At the end of the day, people gave in to little human weaknesses: fear, lust, greed, emotions, gossip. The presence of Elder Maxson in Cambridge Police Station itself had the entire outpost whispering as to what his end goals were. Some talk about Nora potentially becoming Elder Maxson’s wife had already reached Cambridge from incoming deployments from the Prdywen. The stories were somewhat adulterated, but that only fed into the instinct to gossip as people debated the less sensical versions of the stories that emerged.</p><p>            Elder Maxson’s extended presence alone with the relatively new Knight did <em>not</em> help anything. Knowing that even the best soldiers sometimes gave way to light gossip, Danse stood at door with his arms crossed, dissuading the other soldiers on the ship from entering the conversation and interrupting whatever it was that Nora and Maxson were talking about. Only Knight Rhys and Scribe Haylen <em>dared</em> to come close; Haylen, because she was asked to fetch Nora’s Pip-Boy from Danse’s office.</p><p>            “Top…” Rhys whispered.</p><p>            “Yes Rhys?” Danse asked.</p><p>            “…there are <em>concerning </em>rumors going around”.</p><p>            “Not you too, Rhys,” Danse rolled his eyes. “Nothing better to do?”</p><p>            “Top…Paladin. Is <em>that </em>Knight seducing the <em>Elder</em>?”</p><p>            “Rhys…she’s not like that!” Haylen shushed him.</p><p>            “No,” Danse grumbled. “Haylen’s right. She’s not like that”.</p><p>            “Then why are people coming from the Prydwen calling her ‘Lady Maxson’?”</p><p>            <em>Damn, news travels fast</em>, Danse thought to himself, visibly shaking his head before stating “give me a minute. Stand here and keep everyone else out”.</p><p>            Without answering Rhys’s question, Danse knocked on the door to the infirmary.</p><p>            “We’re busy,” Elder Maxson could be heard saying from the other side.</p><p>            “The Pip-Boy, sir!” Danse mentioned.</p><p>            “Oh. Bring it in”.</p><p>            Rhys and Haylen couldn’t help but <em>peek</em> inside as Danse quickly handed Nora’s Pip-Boy to Elder Maxson, who (without handing it over to Nora), moved to try and open the storage compartment only to accidentally hit <em>play</em> on the holotape drive. The sounds of microphone feedback and a cooing baby echoed through the infirmary before a man’s voice suddenly said: <em>Oops, haha! Keep those little fingers away…</em> Nora and Maxson were both immediately caught off guard at the sound of Nora’s dead husband speaking to them on the microphone. Her reaction was understandable, but <em>his</em> shock caused both Rhys and Haylen to be alarmed.</p><p>            <em>Oh god how do I stop this from— </em>before Maxson could figure out how to stop the tape from progressing, Nora’s hand reached out and hit the <em>stop</em> button on the device. None of the members of Recon Squad Gladius could see what Nora’s facial expression looked like. The only thing that <em>was</em> apparent to them, whatever her face looked like, was that her expression elicited a moment of sheer <em>horror</em> on Maxson’s part. It was uncharacteristic, and lasted only a split-second,</p><p>            “Arthur,” Nora said coldly, “why wouldn’t you just hand me the Pip-Boy?”</p><p>            <em>She calls him Arthur?!</em> Rhys thought in horror.</p><p>            <em>He -lets- her call him Arthur?! </em>Haylen realized.</p><p>            “Y-you’re still injured.  I figured I could manage”.</p><p>            “Oops,” Nora scolded, him, before gently picking up the Pip-Boy from Maxson’s hands and placing the device on her lap. With practiced ease, she slid the storage compartment open and handed Maxson the plans.</p><p>            “Um… Knight? Did your son draw this?”</p><p>            “Virgil suffers from a condition,” Nora elaborated, before looking over at the three Brotherhood soldiers still gawking at her from the doorway.</p><p>            “Something wrong?” Nora asked.</p><p>            “You three can leave,” Maxson added.</p><p>            “Uh…sir,” Danse asked, before quickly coming forward and whispering something into Maxson’s ear.</p><p>            “Oh. You can tell them. Half the fleet thinks they know what’s going on anyway. I’m sure it’ll only get worse over time if left unchecked. Squash the more detestable rumors and I’ll work on a formal address later. Perhaps after the Signal Interceptor is operational”.</p><p>            “Per your orders, Elder,” Danse stated, ushering Haylen and Rhys out of the room and leaving Arthur and Nora alone again.</p><p>            “So, Knight,” Maxson said after the doors closed. “You said you had a plan?”</p><p>            “I do, she said, “although my plan is contingent on the eastern Commonwealth being firmly under Minuteman control. We’re talking Covenant to the area around Goodneighbor and Bunker Hill”.</p><p>            “A lot of that’s already been accomplished, Knight. Your men already secured several settlements in that area. You’re up to County Crossing now, I hear?”</p><p>            “All that’s left is Finch Farm,” Nora said, pulling up a Minuteman report on her Pip-Boy and turning the screen so that Maxson could read it. “Remember that raider outpost I asked you to clear out a couple of days ago? The Ironworks?”</p><p>            “<em>Done</em>,” Maxson smirked. “Yesterday. The Minutemen can begin extending their networks immediately”.</p><p>            “I’ll send a transmission to my men, Elder”.</p><p>            “Now, permit me some questions. Exactly <em>why</em> does your Signal Interceptor plan require that this particular area of the Commonwealth be under your control? The Brotherhood can easily manage to clear out one of the less-destroyed parking lots. Between that and our reserves of building materials, we could have that project done in a matter of days”.</p><p>            “I want you to hold off on building the Interceptor for now”.</p><p>            Maxson raised an eyebrow. “Why would you want that? I thought you were in a hurry”.</p><p>            “I <em>am</em>, but if I’m not careful, that’s a one-way trip. Virgil said so himself. I think his exact words were that even if I made it in, ‘it would almost certainly end in my immediate death’”.</p><p>            “I have utmost faith that you’d manage to talk them into some sort of understanding”.</p><p>            “I’m good, Arthur. I’m not <em>that</em> good”.</p><p>            “So what does this have to do with grabbing a greater hold over the Commonwealth?”</p><p>            “The Institute have eyes everywhere, Maxson. You’ve said this yourself. We won’t be able to just <em>build</em> a fifteen-foot call radio beacon with a molecular relay interface on the Boston Airport grounds without attracting immediate attention. The airport ruins are already either too devastated to take advantage of or <em>packed</em> with Brotherhood resources already. Furthermore, this thing has to be built outside to get a clear radio signal”.</p><p>            “Did Virgil tell you that?”</p><p>            “No, Virgil told me the carrier signal for the beam has to tune to the classical radio station being broadcast around the Commonwealth. Now, I’m no expert, but this means the relay will work best outside, away from other radio signals. The Prydwen has all kinds of electromagnetic feedback around it”.</p><p>            “We can <em>halt </em>radio transmissions before interception,” Maxson interrupted her.</p><p>            “So between the giant transmitter on the airport grounds and the radio silence, we’re just <em>telling </em>the Institute we’re about to breach their security? They’re never going to make it that easy. Besides, if we’re around areas of interference, the beam might not work correctly. I’d like for the machine not to completely vaporize me after I’ve already come this far, and I’d hope you want to avoid that outcome as well”.</p><p>            “So…you want to build the machine away from Institute eyes. Why not the settlement of Sanctuary, then? Intelligence reports suggest it’s large. You could build a whole slew of generators, divert the power to the relay for the mission, and then <em>keep</em> the generators to power Sanctuary’s homes and businesses when the mission is over. Two birds, one stone, and it’s far enough away from the Brotherhood to avoid attracting attention or stray radio signals, but close enough to Cambridge for the Brotherhood to be on-hand if things go wrong”.</p><p>            “Sanctuary’s on the wrong side of the Commonwealth. Minuteman numbers thin as we go towards the coast. I don’t want to put a heavily populated settlement in danger. South of Goodneighbor and Bunker Hill, we have the Prydwen and the Castle. Preston Garvey had once said he wanted to reclaim it for the Minutemen when we had the opportunity”.</p><p>            “You want to build it at the Castle,” Maxson surmised. “Wouldn’t that just attract attention too?”</p><p>            “Not <em>at</em> the Castle. Just…somewhere around that area. I want it to be close enough to the Prydwen and the Castle where I have easy access to Minutemen <em>or</em> the Brotherhood”.</p><p>            “I can understand your interest in the Minutemen developing as a peacekeeping force when the Institute are gone, but why bring them into the war?”</p><p>            “I had this talk with Danse, and I’ll have it with you. The Brotherhood are good at kicking down the door, but they’re not good at information gathering or subterfuge. You and I both know we need <em>every</em> card at our disposal when we get to the Institute, Maxson”.</p><p>            She reached out and touched his hand, squeezing it a little. He seemed to be genuinely considering her idea.</p><p>            “So you plan to fortify this area enough to protect the infiltration attempts”.</p><p>            “I have a few unrecruited contacts in this area too, Elder. Too skeptical of the Brotherhood, but maybe I can leverage them for the Minutemen. At the very least I can manage to have them crack into the Institute’s hardware. They helped last time”.</p><p>            “<em>Oh,</em>” Maxson mused. “Well they seem...<em>advantageous to know about</em>”.</p><p>            He seemed to be squeezing her hand back, a pensive look in his eyes.</p><p>            “Given that they’re so <em>skeptical</em>, I suppose you’ll need to back to wherever it was you went in plain-clothes, yes?”</p><p>            “Lemme guess, you’re going to tell me why making contact with them again is inadvisable or—”</p><p>            “I think you <em>should</em> make contact with them. Quickly. Get every bit of information you can, in fact. We’ll need it. Given that there’s no way Cade will clear you for Knight work, I suppose you might as well just be our eyes and ears on the ground”.</p><p>            <em>He’s agreeing with me? This is too easy…</em></p><p>            Indeed, Maxson’s whole demeanor had changed. He seemed to shift his weight <em>closer</em> to Nora, leaning in and whispering in her ear, “<em>after</em> you get cleared by him to wander around on your own and I make one other arrangement for your own protection. I can’t just let you be all alone out there by yourself without <em>some</em> confidence you’ll be alright”.</p><p>            “I…appreciate the thought, Elder”. <em>I hope his arrangement isn’t disagreeable.</em></p><p>            “I would hope you appreciate my confidence more,” Elder Maxson advised. “Knight, can you walk? We should get you to Cade so you’ll be up and running quickly”.</p><p>#</p><p>            In the end, Nora had been required to use Maxson as a crutch to make it to the top of the stairs and up to where Excalibur (Arthur’s personal Vertibird) was stationed. The looks the Brotherhood soldiers were giving her as she leant on Maxson to keep her footing confirmed that <em>everyone</em> knew what they were now. Still, no one dared say a word around her, no matter what emotions their faces belied. Some were surprised, some were jealous. Rhys only seemed <em>more</em> suspicious of her. Haylen counted herself among the most impressed. Higher-ranking officers at the station, like Paladin Danse and Knight-Sergeant Lawson, maintained an air of deference and respect.</p><p>            “We’re headed back to the Prydwen, Lancer-Sergeant. Radio them to have a deck scribe help me with Knight Mulyer, and make sure Cade’s on standby”.</p><p>            “Roger that, sir,” the Lancer said dutifully.</p><p>            “Your Vault Suit’s in your footlocker, I take it? Back on the ship?”</p><p>            “Yes sir”.</p><p>            “Good”.</p><p>            Once Nora had been escorted up to Knight-Captain Cade, she was given a full medical assessment and subjected to <em>several</em> injections of Stimpaks and IV bags of saline. “You <em>narrowly</em> escaped death, Knight. I can’t clear you for field duty like this”.</p><p>            “Not even for the Interceptor mission?” Nora said.</p><p>            “I suppose I’ll be <em>pressed </em>into making an exception. It’s only under the most extraordinary circumstances that I’d even allow consideration to you leaving this ship again. Of course, you’re a very extraordinary woman”.</p><p>            “Damn, and I was looking forward to finally being off medical leave. You know how long it’s been since I’ve had a good whiskey, Knight-Captain?”</p><p>            “Well, I didn’t have to give you any Med-X, so I suppose I could allow you one small shot-glass worth, if you wash it down with <em>several</em> cans of purified water. <em>You did earn it</em>. Besides, I think it best you get plenty of sleep for the next couple of days. The Stimpaks may help with quickening your recovery, but the body still needs rest to heal properly”.</p><p>            “Mind if I go to Proctor Quinlan and get some reading material then, Cade?”</p><p>            “I’m sure I can have a scribe fetch you something interesting. I think I might actually have something on-hand by Senior Scribe Edmonson about the antimicrobial effects of Bloodleaf”.</p><p>            Another two days passed by with Nora being limited to the Prydwen’s infirmary. The smaller, elevated infirmary above ground was reserved only for cases that Cade felt deserved his personal attention, like injured Paladins or extremely life-threatening operations on severely wounded Knights. Anything deemed less important resulted in the soldier being moved to the ground-level field hospital established within the interior of the Boston Airport. Nora mused that there would be no doubt she’d have been sent there, if not for what she was quickly becoming in the eyes of Elder Maxson. On the 7<sup>th</sup>, Knight-Captain Cade ran a full assessment of Nora’s recovery and decided, begrudgingly, that she had healed <em>just</em> enough to resume her operations with the Minutemen.</p><p>            “Be <em>careful</em> out there. Lancer-Captain Kells is going to give you the locations of key Brotherhood outposts around the Commonwealth. Don’t hesitate to seek shelter at one, even if it interferes with their operations: Kells will take the heat”.</p><p>            “I’ll try not to keep making more work for you”, Nora said jokingly.</p><p>            “It’s not a matter of <em>more work</em>, Knight”.</p><p>            Cade made sure no one else was within earshot and lowered his voice. “It’s not about Elder Maxson either, persay. You’re a good woman, Knight. It’s been a pleasure. I’d like to <em>not</em> sign your death certificate, understand?”</p><p>            “I truly appreciate it, Knight-Captain”.</p><p>            “Good. Oh, before you leave, Elder Maxson wants to see you in his quarters”.</p><p>#</p><p>            “Are you <em>sure</em> this is a good decision, Elder? We have no idea who her contacts are in the eastern Commonwealth,” Lancer-Captain Kells warned Maxson.</p><p>            “I know <em>exactly</em> who they are, Captain. Nora Mulyer’s made contact with the Railroad”.</p><p>            “The <em>Railroad</em>? That could be troublesome. All accounts report that they’re a dangerous group of misguided fanatics. What if she double-crosses us?”</p><p>            “I highly doubt she’d consider that. I genuinely believe that she <em>is</em> trying to avoid as much bloodshed as possible. It’s safe to say she’s not going to allow the Railroad to, say, firebomb the Brotherhood”.</p><p>            “So why would she go?”</p><p>            “Well, we <em>do</em> have the Institute to contend with, and she’s right: the Brotherhood can mount the offensive, but we need to know what we’re dealing with. As long as the Minutemen and the Railroad remain useful to the Brotherhood’s need for intelligence, we’ll just have to let them do some work for us”.</p><p>            “I can understand the Commonwealth Minutemen, but <em>tolerating </em>the Railroad? This is a <em>dangerous</em> gambit she’s convinced you of, sir. Just because you <em>like</em> her doesn’t mean you should allow her to manipulate you so easily”.</p><p>            “Was I doing <em>that </em>well?” Maxson asked with a smirk on his face.</p><p>            “I beg your pardon, sir?”</p><p>            “I <em>want</em> her to think she’s manipulating me. You don’t <em>really</em> think I’d just let someone like Nora Mulyer go off into the Commonwelth after recovering from such grievous injures just because she has a pretty face, a soft heart, and a silver tongue? Apparently, I fooled her well enough to fool you too”.</p><p>            “<em>Really</em>,” Lancer-Captain Kells smirked, intrigued. “Alright, mind explaining?”</p><p>            “We need to ascertain the exact location of the Railroad so we can take those fanatics off the map. General information from the Commonwealth and reconnaissance information from the Brotherhood has indicated that they’re somewhere around Bunker Hill. It would be a costly and difficult endeavor to seek out a group of fanatics with enough skill in subterfuge to avoid even the Institute. However, they’re just as happy to fight the Institute with us, even if they don’t have any place doing so alongside us. Infiltrating them with Nora will result in <em>valuable</em> information coming to light for defeating them quickly”.</p><p>            “Elder, I could be convinced she won’t sell us out to the Railroad, but I’m not convinced she’ll tell us where they are. Hell, she’s <em>already</em> made contact with them and not said a word about the experience to us. That doesn’t sound like a prime candidate for infiltration to me”.</p><p>            “On the contrary, Captain, I think it’s a <em>fantastic</em> idea. The less she knows, the less the Railroad can glean about us from her if things go wrong. Furthermore, she’s going with the best of intentions: she wants more information on the Institute so she can find her son. We need more information on the Institute for our campaign, so its worth allowing her to milk them for what little they’re worth before we remove them from the Commonwealth. With them and the Institute both gone, any political or technological rivals we have in the Commonwealth are gone for good”.</p><p>            “Except the Minutemen,” Kells retorted.</p><p>            “Nora won’t threaten the Brotherhood with a firefight. She already knows she can’t win”.</p><p>            “So she plays the manipulation game instead, using her position as your future wife to sway the Brotherhood to her own means”.</p><p>            “Her goal of <em>peace</em> is laudable, Kells. I’ve no moral qualms about supporting <em>that</em>, especially considering that it would mean control over the Minutemen through marriage. The considerably uncorrupted blood flowing through her veins, her confirmed fertility, and her good looks admittedly make the deal more <em>enticing</em>. I’m even go so far as to admit that I am at least somewhat <em>genuinely </em>fond of her. It’s been <em>nice</em> to flex diplomatic muscles with a worthy opponent, and hopefully my suspicions are unconfirmed by what’s about to happen next, but I believe she’s made one <em>terrible</em> mistake. Maybe she thinks somewhere that she’s going to protect the Railroad from us by going alone --- Lord knows they need to think she’s alone before they let her find them again”.</p><p>            “But I’m only letting her go alone so that she can find them again, Kells,” Maxson said sinisterly. “<em>I’m counting on her success</em>”.</p><p>            Maxson and Kells nodded at each other in agreement as a voice made itself known on Maxson’s personal intercom.</p><p>            “Elder”. Arthur Maxson walked over to his desk to answer the call.</p><p>            “Yes Cade?”</p><p>            “I’ve just finished with Knight Mulyer. She’ll likely be at your doorstep any minute”.</p><p>            “Perfect timing. Captain Kells is already here”.</p><p>            Once the intercom went silent, Maxson looked at Kells.</p><p>            “When you’ve given her the map, leave. I’m going to work her over a little and see if I can make a more accurate assessment of how co-operative she might really be”.</p><p>            “Oh? Good luck, Elder”. A couple of minutes passed before Nora made her way to Elder Maxson’s quarters.</p><p>            “Elder. Captain”. The customary salutes were given before Captain Kells quickly extricated himself from the room.</p><p>            “I’m just here to give you the locations of some additional Brotherhood reconnaissance posts. We don’t have any as far south as Fort Independence, yet, so be extremely cautious there. Perhaps after the Castle is under your control, you’ll be willing to assist us in that regard?”</p><p>            “Finch Farm is secured. That’s the last major outpost in the eastern Commonwealth the Minutemen had our sights on. We’ll be meeting at some point to establish a plan of attack before we make our move”.</p><p>            “See that you let us know when you do,” Elder Maxson added.</p><p>            “Of course,” Nora nodded. Once Kells had finished transferring his information to Nora’s Pip-Boy, he took his leave of the Maxson quarters. Once again, Nora and Arthur were alone.</p><p>            “Anything else, sir?”</p><p>            “Plenty,” Maxson said, going over to a table and pulling out a package for Nora.</p><p>            “This is for you”.</p><p>            Nora peeked into the package inquisitively. “This is my Vault Suit. Wait. Is this <em>heavier</em>?”</p><p>            “It’s been reinforced considerably,” Maxson said. “Not necessarily Teagan’s <em>best</em> work, but I had him get as close as he could to my coat, given the circumstances. He had to pad it with extra material and widen it a bit since Vault Suit’s are so form-fitting. Head to my latrine, change, and ensure it still fits. I’d like to make sure it does before you leave”. She did as he asked and wandered into his bathroom, locking the door and squeezing into the suit. It was <em>heavy</em>, and the collar was a bit <em>loose</em>, but for something done within the span of a couple of days, it was considerably impressive. She stepped out of the bathroom to show Maxson that the suit was indeed workable and saw his eyes widen.</p><p>            “Well…he did a good job”. For a moment, Maxson’s eyes were obviously roaming up and down Nora’s figure, but his assessment was done so quickly that Nora wasn’t sure if this was an act of lechery or just another clinical judgment.</p><p>            <em>Maybe both</em>.</p><p>            “It’s extremely heavy,” Nora groaned. “I’m not used to it”.</p><p>            “Unfortunately, there’s no getting around that, Knight. Layers of tanned leather and steel plating will always have a certain heft to them, even the thinner ones that Teagan had to use for your suit since there’s only so much Vault Suit to begin with. If you think that’s heavy, you should try my coat. Still, I wasn’t expecting him to get it so right on the first try. At least without your power armor, we’ll be sure you’ll manage to be both discreet and protected”.</p><p>            “Always looking out for my safety, hmm?”</p><p>            “I understand my…<em>overprotectiveness</em> can be a bit overbearing. I’m not doing it to be obnoxious, Knight. That much I can promise you”. He watched carefully as Nora stepped forward and gave him what looked like a sincere smile. Letting himself enjoy the moment, he smiled back. If neither of them had been secretly wondering whether or not they’d fooled the other one into complacency, it might have honestly been their first tender moment. Arthur was ashamed to admit to himself that he hoped that tenderness might become <em>real</em> someday. Nora almost caught herself thinking the same thing. At his best, Maxson vaguely reminded her of Nate.</p><p>            <em>No. Stop thinking that.</em></p><p>            Nathaniel Mulyer and Arthur Maxson had a few similarities but leagues of differences. Maxson was far more organized and commanding. Nate wasn’t <em>un</em>charismatic, but Arthur outclassed him by miles in that regard. Both were intelligent, but Arthur carried himself as better educated despite being the one without a college education. Arthur managed to be pleasant when he tried, but Nate could be pleasant without lifting a finger. Nate had also naturally been an altruistic, good man. Whether or not the same could be said for Elder Maxson was difficult to say. Another thing that was difficult to assess about Elder Maxson was whether or not he gauged her against Sarah Lyons. She didn’t know enough about Sarah to make that assessment, and Sarah had apparently been dead as long as Nate had. Sarah’s death was one of the few things that made Arthur Maxson more relatable to her: both of them had lost someone, and Nora had heard enough to understand that it had taken Arthur a <em>while, </em>even with his considerably shorter life, to get over that loss.</p><p>            Maybe that was worth considering in how Nora handled him. Trying to be sweet, she extended one of her hands to give him a firm handshake. It was meant to be an olive branch. Perhaps their first <em>real</em> peace offering to each other. He seemed to take the offering, grasping her hand firmly and shaking warmly. The distance closed between them instinctively when Nora felt Maxson pull her into a loose hug.</p><p>            “<em>Don’t do anything stupid out there</em>”.</p><p>            “You’re doing it again: being overprotective”.</p><p>            “I can’t help it,” he laughed. He was being <em>openly</em> flirtatious now, not unlike her husband, and his good looks and unexpected charm caused Nora to feel her face redden a bit. She could see him smirk as he seized the opportunity and leant down, firmly pressing his lips on hers. For some reason, she found herself <em>not</em> pulling away.</p><p>            It might have been shock. It might have been some modicum of acceptance for their forthcoming political marriage. It might have been the fact that it actually felt <em>nice</em>. A confusing mix of disgust, guilt, excitement, and lust all overtook her at once as she felt one hand try and push Maxson off while the other grabbed the back of his hair and tightened her grip. Whatever battle was raging between them had just manifested itself on a new level: he was fighting between trying to be controlled and suppressing his desire to make things <em>much </em>more physical, while she was fighting to decide whether or not she even wanted to continue the interaction.</p><p>            They were like that for a full two minutes, lips locked in a stalemate, before a voice on the intercom informed Maxson that Proctor Ingram was looking for him.</p><p>#</p><p>            Maintaining her cover meant the loss of Vertibird privileges. Although she still had several signal grenades in her possession, it was no longer advisable to use them. The Vertibird that carried her to an outpost just outside Bunker Hill did so only to allow her to avoid the more dangerous ruins outside the Boston Airport. The walk to Bunker Hill from a public park taken over by the Brotherhood was short. Once she’d reached the obelisk, she set out to search among the caravans for one operated by the Minutemen. It didn’t take very long to find what she needed: the Minutemen were becoming more and more plentiful by the day.</p><p>            “Where ya’ headed?” She asked the caravan lead. This was a young woman she’d never met before, with blonde hair and emerald green eyes who looked at her Vault Suit in amazement.</p><p>            “General?!”</p><p>            “In the flesh. Nice to meet you”.</p><p>            “Woah! Lemme just say that it’s such an honor! I wanted to personally thank you for giving us this opportunity. Before you turned things around, my brother thought he’d have to fall in with the local raider group for his next meal!”</p><p>            “Well, now it’s <em>doubly</em> nice to meet you, then. Are your family holding up all right?”</p><p>            “Of course! We’re up at County Crossing now. My parents got jobs at the farm there. My brother’s been helping build new housing there for other people moving in…there’s a gang of feral ghouls we’ve been worrying about nearby though. We’ve been able to hold off the stragglers but if the entire herd comes out…”</p><p>            “Do you know where they’re headed from?”</p><p>            “That old military base nearby. The training yard?”</p><p>            “Tell your brother to see about getting some fences or walls put up, and I’ll see what I can manage in the meantime”.</p><p>            “Thank you General! Oh, please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help!”</p><p>            “Actually, there is something. I <em>did</em> ask you where you were heading. You’re going back home, I take it?”</p><p>            “Yeah, my trip isn’t that long”.</p><p>            “How often do the Minutemen come through County Crossing?”</p><p>            “A patrol comes up once very few days”.</p><p>            “Great,” Nora smiled, writing down some instructions on a piece of paper. “When your people next see a passing group of Minutemen, hand this to the patrol leader. He or she will know what to do with it, I’m sure. I’d go myself but I’m heading in the opposite direction for now, so maybe you’ll see them first”.</p><p>            “Yes ma’am!”</p><p>            Giving the young woman some Caps for her trouble, Nora soon left Bunker Hill and headed back in the direction of the church. A small group of super mutants --- only two or three armed with boards --- attacked her on her way there. The pipe pistols they were armed with were useless in the face of the armored suit Maxson had given her, and her combat skills had improved enough where she could now easily gun them down on her own. In the distance, she heard beeping and saw a suicide running towards her. Remembering MacCready’s words, she unholstered her rifle from her back, aimed carefully, and fired at the nuclear payload the mutant was carrying. The explosion was surprisingly satisfying, as was the feeling of no longer being afraid.</p><p>            <em>I suppose a few brushes with death will do that</em>.</p><p>            She wondered about MacCready’s trip to the Capital Wasteland as she made it to the Old North Church and returned to the Railroad hideout. It took a couple of weeks to reach the Capital Wasteland: Washington D.C was a considerable distance from Boston. MacCready had described the route they took with some detail while they were clearing out the Med-Tek research facility. By now, he’d probably cleared the area around Manhattan. She could only wonder what became of the ruins of New York City. MacCready had informed her that the city’s fate depended on where exactly one was looking. Long Island had apparently been relatively well-off, looking something like the ruins of Lexington or Cambridge. On account of what had once been Manhattan looking like something that could now give the Glowing Sea nightmares, Long Island was now only accessible by boat. There was a port settlement near what was once Newark that was capable of being a departure point for the trip. Newark itself had managed to be as developed as Diamond City, being spared a direct hit from the bombs. They’d walled their most habitable sections up within a few years of the Great War to protect themselves against the hordes of early ghouls wandering out of the ruins of downtown New York. Two centuries later, the fortifications formed the basis for a considerable sized settlement which formed one leg of the journey any major caravan took from the Commonwealth to the Capital Wasteland.</p><p>            At the Old North Church, Nora found Deacon already waiting for her at the entrance. “Watchers saw you comin’. Des wants to know if you found anything interesting”.</p><p>            “Nothing yet,” Nora told him. “Well, nothing <em>concrete</em>. I do have some information I want to talk about, though”.</p><p>            “Right, right. Des told me to let you back in if that was the case. Oh, about that operation: still interested, boss?”</p><p>            “I am, actually. Would you mind travelling together to Lexington with me?”           </p><p>            “Sorry boss, ‘fraid not. I’ve got a few preparations I’ve got to make <em>solo</em> before I meet you there. You can be at the ruined overpass west of the city, in a couple of days right? It’s not that far from one Minuteman factory?”</p><p>            “Mind if I bring a couple of friends?”</p><p>            “Depends. Des also wants to talk to you about the Brotherhood of Steel. Some of the other agents aren’t too thrilled about working with a Brotherhood Knight, but Des hopes you might be willing to come around. I told her about the synth they killed in Greenetech”.</p><p>            “And she didn’t rush back out here with guns to chase me away?”</p><p>            “Hey, I said we all have stories about how we wound up in the Railroad, right? What drove us to start risking life and limb for escaped synths we shouldn’t have any connection too? Everyone has a story, Nora. She’s willing to accept that as yours if you really mean that you want to help. Now, about Lexington: just tell me the Brotherhood aren’t crashing the party”.</p><p>            “No, but a couple of extra Minutemen might be”.</p><p>            “Minutemen are dicey. You’d be surprised how many bigots there are hiding in the Commonwealth who don’t wear power armor and call themselves ‘Paladin’ or ‘Knight’, y’know?”</p><p>            “I’ll keep that in mind before I invite any last-minute guests. Preston Garvey was a bit more sympathetic to you guys than most”.</p><p>            “I’ve heard a thing or two about him. I guess I’d be willing to give him one extra seat at the table, but if shit hits the fan, it’s on you boss”.</p><p>            “I understand that”.</p><p>            “Great. Let’s talk to Desdemona then. Come inside?”</p><p>#</p><p>            “There’s been panic about that new thing floating in the sky,” Desdemona could be heard saying as Deacon and Nora made their way into the main sanctum of the Railroad headquarters.</p><p>            “Aliens are real!” Tinker Tom cried.</p><p>            “Enough, Tom,” Desdemona chided him, before continuing: “The blimp is called the Prydwen, and it’s operated by the Brotherhood of Steel. The Brotherhood of Steel is a highly advanced order, and they’ve come here to destroy synths”.</p><p>            “Shit,” Glory murmured.</p><p>            “Spread the word,” Desdemona said, looking at Nora as she and Deacon approached the meeting. “The Brotherhood of Steel are our enemies. There’s no possibility of peace. Tinker Tom is working on a failsafe plan to deal with the Brotherhood codenamed Red Glare, but for now, we monitor them and keep them clear of our operations. The focus remains on the Institute”.</p><p>            When the crowd had dissipated, Desdemona gestured for Deacon and Nora to follow her into a side-section of the crypts. No one else followed or even came close to where the trio assembled by Desdemona’s personal monitoring terminals. Only a modified Assaultron, silver in color with the letters P-A-M emblazoned on the chestplate, witnessed the interaction between the group. Taking advantage of the separation from other Railroad members, Desdemona was quick to cut right to the point of most concern.</p><p>            “I just heard the most fascinating rumor. It would seem you’re not only the General of the Minutemen. You’ve also fallen in with the Brotherhood of Steel. Is that true?”</p><p>            “I was pretty forthright about that when Deacon and I spoke last,” Nora admitted.</p><p>            “He <em>did</em> mention that you brought up your involvement with them on your own. It would seem you have nothing to hide from us, and the lack of Brotherhood troops storming the doors is reassuring, but not reassuring enough. Still, I need to know if you’ve told them anything about us, and I need you to be <em>very</em> forthright with your answer”.</p><p>            “I haven’t told them a single word about you. I don’t even dare <em>say</em> the word Railroad in front of them if I can help it”.</p><p>            “PAM?” Desdemona asked, turning to the silver Assaultron. A calm, high-pitched voice resonated from the machine’s speakers.</p><p>            “Running predictive algorithm… possibility of Railroad interception by entity ‘Brotherhood’ via rogue variable, 43%. Alert: my predictive algorithms—”</p><p>            “I know, I know. No one should trust you, old girl,” Desdemona shook her head before looking at Nora.</p><p>            “43%. Those are risky odds, and yet I can’t shake the feeling that if your motivations were truly in line with the Brotherhood of Steel, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. So, why are you here?”</p><p>            “I need your help to get into the Institute,” Nora said.</p><p>            “<em>Our</em> help? I’ll admit, I’m relieved to hear that, but why <em>us</em>? You’ve got both the Minutemen and the Brotherhood at your back. What brings you to our door?”</p><p>            “I can’t just force my way in and I’m not risking innocent civilians. I don’t want to risk <em>anyone</em>, but if the Railroad can manage to rescue Institute synths, then you must have the most experience evading the Institute. I need that kind of edge when I get in there to get to my son. I can’t imagine they’re just going to <em>hand</em> him to me when I get there”.</p><p>            “And how do I know this isn’t some kind of trap? What kind of plan would you have for possibly have to infiltrate the Institute? Unless,” Desdemona thought for a moment before realizing, “…you figured something out with the Courser data you got from us”.</p><p>            “It’s going to take work, but I have these plans. You told me that I needed to bring anything I learned about the Institute to you first. Well, here I am with plans for a Signal Interceptor that can get me into the Institute”.        </p><p>            “These plans look like total garbage. Are you sure these are even workable?”</p><p>            “I went all the way into the Glowing Sea and talked to a debilitated rogue scientist from the Institute to get that information. I’m even willing to stand on the damn thing myself. Trust me, they’re workable”.</p><p>            Desdemona put the plans in front of PAM for a moment, who analyzed the drawing and the footnotes carefully before giving an assessment: “Initial assessment: chances of interception beam success calculated as 73%”.</p><p>            “PAM seems to think it could work,” Deacon nodded. “I’m telling you Dez, this woman’s the real deal”.</p><p>            “Alright, General,” Desdemona sighed. “Prove it. Run Deacon’s op with him and we’ll talk about getting you inside the Institute”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Pledging to meet Deacon near Lexington, Nora made her way up the Commonwealth on foot from the Old North Church to Starlight Drive-In. The first leg of the trip back to Bunker Hill was boring, but completed within a day. After taking the night off to rest at the Bunker Hill inn, Nora found herself waiting until noon the next morning to casually travel alongside a passing Minuteman caravan en route to Graygarden. The robotic greenhouse had been secured following the Brotherhood’s raid on the super mutants at the Weston Water Treatment Plant. It remained mostly under robotic control, though a few extra shacks had been built to house new guards and caravanners passing through the area. Just outside of Diamond City, a raider attack resulted in one of the caravan guards being badly injured before being dispatched by the rest of the caravan, Nora included. Two raiders were killed in the ensuing attack, while three more retreated into the ruins surrounding Fenway Park.</p><p>            “You’d think they’d be more cautious with the Minutemen around,” Nora sighed, tearing one deceased raider’s scarf to use as a bandage for the injured guard’s leg. “Maybe even give up raiding altogether and get a real job”.</p><p>            “There’re always people who’re all too happy to just take from hard-working farmers rather than do the hard work, General”.</p><p>            “Yeah, I suppose you’re right”. She pointed to a fork in the road. The opposite fork from the one the group had meant to take led to Diamond City. “Alright, let’s take a detour into the city and get Reggie to a doctor”.</p><p>            With the exception of Reggie, the rest of the caravan didn’t stay long. Most remained outside the city walls but within the patrol routes of Diamond City security, waiting for Nora and one other man to carry the injured Minuteman into Diamond City and to Doc Sun’s office.</p><p>            “I’m glad you didn’t dally,” Doc Sun mused. “This wound could have cost this man his leg”.</p><p>            “Hey, I’m the General,” Nora mused. “It’s my job”.</p><p>            After leaving Reggie in capable hands, the caravan travelled at night to their last stop of Graygarden for the night. Word had come in on Nora’s Pip-Boy that the Minutemen were now focusing their forces a bit further south. A settlement named Oberland Station, not far from Diamond City itself, had just raised the Minutemen flag. The pleasant surprise came just before Nora spied a lone Minuteman walking down the road from Graygarden to Diamond City, heading towards the caravan.</p><p>            “Hey man,” the Minuteman said when he reached the group. “I don’t think we’ve met, but your timing’s impeccable. Preston Garvey, Commonwealth Minutemen”.</p><p>            “<em>Preston?</em>” Nora asked in disbelief. It <em>had</em> been a couple of weeks since she’d seen him last, but he couldn’t have changed <em>that much</em>, could he? How’d his voice get higher? Upon closer inspection, Nora quickly saw the different face hiding under the Minuteman militia cap. It wasn’t pinned-up in the same way that Preston liked to wear his, and the man was wearing a convincing take on a Minuteman uniform rather than the unique duster that Preston had taken a liking to at the Museum of Freedom.</p><p>            “Uh-huh...” Nora said simply. A few of the other caravanners stared at Nora and ‘Preston’ out of curiosity, realizing that the con-man had perhaps targeted Nora on the assumption that she hadn’t been out of Vault 111 as long as she had been.</p><p>            “You might have heard that we’re making a comeback. The General sent me to take donations from concerned citizens like yourself. Can I put you down for, say, one-hundred Caps?”</p><p>            Nora thought for a moment before putting on an innocent smile and then gently touching the man’s shoulder. He seemed to blush a bit, much like the real Preston, as she winked at him and played along.</p><p>            “Sure,” she smiled, “hey…why not make it two-hundred, <em>and</em> you should come with us to Graygarden. We can give you some provisions for the road, maybe?”</p><p>            The man’s eyes widened. The more knowledgeable caravanners in the group raised their eyebrows but said nothing, knowing Nora usually had such situations under control.</p><p>            “Wow, man! That’s really generous of you. I really should be moving along though! Maybe I’ll just take the caps now and come back to Graygarden later?”</p><p>            “Nah, I keep the caps on hand at the shop stalls there. You don’t think we’d just be walking around with our spare money, huh Preston? Dangerous world out there. That’s why we need big strong Minutemen like yourself”.</p><p>            She winked at him again, “pretty please?”</p><p>            “Well…maybe if we make it quick?” The man added. With the con-man in tow, the group continued on to Graygarden. Nora laughed and pretended to admire the fake Minuteman as he regaled her with a bullshit story of taking down a Deathclaw with nothing but one shot from a two-crank laser musket. By the time the group made it Graygarden, he seemed impressed enough with his own story to keep talking as Nora pretended to fetch the promised provisions and Caps. He hadn’t even noticed yet that he’d been led into the Graygarden greenhouse, or that the caravanners and guards had blocked off the entrance.</p><p>            “One-hundred, one-fifty, two-hundred,” Nora finished counting. She held up the strings and a bag of foodstuffs for the man before her face slowly changed from the playful onlooker to a more serious tone.</p><p>            “Something wrong, miss?”</p><p>            “You told me so many stories, ‘Preston’. Before you go, mind if I tell you a quick one? It’s probably one of my favorite Minuteman stories”.</p><p>            “Sure, miss. I suppose I might as well after I talked your ear off”.</p><p>            “That’s the spirit,” Nora laughed. “Remember that time we went to Goodneighbor? You, MacCready and Danse all got drunk while I was at the Memory Den? I had to lug you up to your hotel room. You said I was prettier than Magnolia and kissed me, remember?”</p><p>            “I-I…wha?”</p><p>            “I remember, Preston. You were embarrassed about it the next day. Not many men wouldn’t be embarrassed, locking lips with the General. Not many men can say they’ve done that. What’s the matter, Preston? <em>You didn’t recognize me</em>?”</p><p>#</p><p>            When the sun rose, Preston Garvey was greeted to a familiar face at Starlight Drive-In. Nora had risen early from a short night at Graygarden to escort ‘Preston Garvey’ to meet his match.</p><p>            “General!” The real Preston said, looking curiously at the bound man being led behind her to be presented to him. “Who’s that?”</p><p>            “You don’t recognize your long-lost twin with the same name? He said he was collecting donations for the Commonwealth Minutemen”.</p><p>            “Oh. So <em>he’s</em> who I’ve been hearing about. Whaddya gonna do with him, General?”       </p><p>            “Well, we might as well make him work back the money he swindled from people. What’s a few months of conscription with the Commonwealth Minutemen worth? We had MacCready join for a month for two-fifty?”</p><p>            “Wasn’t it three-fifty?”</p><p>            “MacCready didn’t steal that money, though”.</p><p>            “Ah. You’re right. That’s worth at least a couple of months of hard time. The factory’s up and running. We’ve even had the Brotherhood stop by looking to trade. I’m sure Sturges can find something for him to do”.</p><p>            “Hey man! You’re supposed to be the good guys!”</p><p>            “We <em>are</em> the good guys, <em>man</em>,” Nora snarked. “Commonwealth justice before the Minutemen came back involved some asshole shooting you for swindling him of his money. Now, should I make that happen, or are you going to accept when you’ve lost? You wanted to play Minuteman so bad…”</p><p>            “I’d say it’s too good for him, General”.</p><p>            “Yeah, maybe it is, but we <em>are</em> the good guys”.</p><p>            “I…I…” the impersonator was no better than a frightened child. Nora noted that he did <em>look</em> quite young. Putting him to work for a couple months to pay off his debt with room and board would be a mercy --- maybe it would open the door to something better. When the Preston Garvey impersonator had been taken to the factory to begin his work sentence, the real Preston pulled Nora aside. “Hey, General. We need to talk”.</p><p>            “About?”</p><p>            “Well, we’ve gotten a lot of settlements under our belt. We’ve gotten so many now we’re having trouble communicating with them all. It’s a good problem to have. I think it’s time we take over the Castle. I’d like to send a force over there to take over, and I’m hoping you can be there or at least co-ordinate the offensive”.</p><p>            “I came back partially because I had the same idea,” Nora smiled. “I think we’re ready to mount that offensive. I came back to Starlight to get you so we could start getting the troops together”.</p><p>            “You think you could get the Brotherhood to help too? I might be asking too much”.</p><p>            “I’ve already commissioned their help, but there’s someone else I think would help us out a lot at the Castle, and I think you’d really like them”.</p><p>            “Oh yeah? Who?”</p><p>            Nora leaned in and whispered, “I’m sure you’ve heard of the Railroad?”</p><p>            “You’re serious? <em>They’ll get in on this?</em> What’d you give them to get them to work with the Brotherhood”.</p><p>            “I promised to run a job with one of their agents in Lexington in exchange for helping them infiltrate the Institute”.</p><p>            “You…offered to do a job for them in exchange for being able to help them do a job? I think you might have that backwards”.</p><p>            “I don’t. Infiltrating the Institute means getting my son back”.</p><p>            “Well, that makes more sense”.</p><p>            “I wanted to run something else by you,” Nora said nervously. “When we have the Castle back, I’d like to collaborate more with the Railroad’s efforts to safeguard synths. How opposed would you be to supporting the Railroad?”</p><p>            “<em>Me</em>? Not at all. I wonder about some of the other Minutemen members though. Not everyone likes the idea of letting the good synths live their own lives. A lot of Minutemen agree more with the Brotherhood. Speaking of the Brotherhood, what do <em>they</em> have to say about it?”</p><p>            “…well, they can’t talk much about plans they don’t really know about”.</p><p>            “I see. I’m glad to see you didn’t sell them your soul, General”.</p><p>            <em>Oh Preston, if only you knew</em>. She figured it was best <em>not</em> to tell him, at least until enough time and events had passed where the drunken night in Goodneighbor would just be an old memory.</p><p>            “It’s better this way,” Nora elaborated. “The Railroad don’t really seem to care much about being out in the open like the Brotherhood do. I think we might be able to get them both to work out well for us, if we play our cards right. Now, there’s an agent of theirs waiting for us near Lexington, just up the road from here. Of any Railroad agent I’ve met, he’s definitely the most sympathetic to us. Maybe he’ll can help us with figuring out how to get the Railroad on our side for the operation at the Castle”,</p><p>            “Only one way to find out, General. Lexington isn’t far from here”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0030"><h2>30. Who Are You, Really?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 30: In which Deacon has Nora run a job.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ugh. I'm out of back-up material. So this is FRESH off the press. This part of the story has been very hard to write because it's setting up remaining characters and plot points on the side that haven't been addressed yet, but need to be before we finally get to Shaun.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>WHO ARE YOU, REALLY?</h1><p>
  <em>“I stood by everything I loved/while you never understood me much/cause there’s only one of me/and too many of you fighting over nothing” – Coheed and Cambria “The Hard Sell”</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>            The sun was still low in the sky over the Commonwealth when Nora and Preston reached Deacon’s meeting point at the ruined overpass outside Lexington. They were far enough away to avoid the brunt of the city’s ruins, now turning into a feral ghoul and super mutant hive in the wake of the Minutemen’s banishment of the Lexington raiders from the downtown area.</p><p>            “Solve one problem and another one always comes up,” Preston lamented. “A Minuteman’s job is never done”.</p><p>            “Maybe someday, Preston,” Nora laughed back. “When we’re old and gray and my son’s pushing me around in a wheelchair”.</p><p>            “There’s a nice thought, General”.</p><p>            “I know. Seems to be all that gets me by these days”.</p><p>            A lone man stood underneath a particularly ruined section of overpass. His clothes looked tattered and drab, and his eyes were covered by a pair of sunglasses that Nora had seen before. The pompadour haircut was gone, replaced by a bald head and a beat-up tribly hat.</p><p>            “Deacon?” Nora asked incredulously.</p><p>            “You know this scavver, General?” Preston whispered.</p><p>            “Hey,” the man said. The voice was obviously Deacon, but the demeanor seemed far less friendly than how Nora typically remembered him. “That’s <em>my</em> pile of garbage, asshole. Back off”.</p><p>            “It’s Deacon,” Nora chuckled, gesturing for an uneasy Preston to relax. “It could be no other”.</p><p>            “Like the disguise?” Deacon asked, breaking character. He gave the two Minutemen a slight <em>twirl</em>, showing off his carefully crafted outfit. “Wastelander camo. You’re lucky I didn’t do one of my face swaps too”.</p><p>            “I almost didn’t recognize you,” Nora mused, before a look of realization crossed both her and Preston’s faces. “Wait, <em>you can change your face</em>?”</p><p>            “Oh you know,” Deacon used, almost causing Nora and Preston to wonder if he were kidding. “I put myself under the knife every year or two. New face, new body, the whole makeover. Keeps our enemies guessing”.</p><p>            His tone became serious, “now, about the job. The Railroad’s only recently been using the Old North Church. Our old base was under a Slocum’s Joe. We had a pretty sweet set-up until the Institute found us”.</p><p>            “That sounds really bad,” Preston murmured, while Nora couldn’t help herself from asking, “wait, your old base was under a donut shop?”</p><p>            “It’s a lot better than it sounds! Until it was blown to hell…”</p><p>            “…our HQ was strong. Defensible. Heck, we thought it was secure. Inside a minute, the Institute troopers breached the door and turned it into a shooting gallery. The survivors didn’t have time to grab anything, so we’re getting something important we had to leave behind”.</p><p>            “Let’s find it then,” Nora sighed. “Give me the details”.</p><p>            “Okay, well let’s start with what you need to know right now. We can save the good stuff for after we’re where we need to be. I’ve got a tourist nearby. He, or she, has intel on the base, so let’s pump him for information before we make our way in. I’ll take point for now”.</p><p>            “You don’t know who your…uh…<em>tourist</em> is?” Preston asked.</p><p>            “The less we know about each other, the better,” Deacon elaborated. “We’re always trying to stay one step ahead of You-Know-Who. It’s just better not to make too many close friends”.</p><p>            “I’m not really sure how I feel about that,” Preston replied, “but it’s not my call. Alright, so are you leading us right to him? Or her?”</p><p>            “Yeah, right this way”.</p><p>            Carefully, the trio scaled the chunks of ruined overpass and precariously perched truck trailers. After two centuries of exposure to the elements, it was intense to think a structure like this could have still been standing. Preston mumbled something softly about the distance between the overpass section and the floor, while Nora remembered her excursion to the Mass Pike Interchange with MacCready. The Gunner group the Minutemen had assaulted there had also been using a section of overpass as an observation area, although the Interchange was more fortified and showed signs of attempts by the Gunners to improve the location’s structural stability. Out here, in the middle of nowhere and with one sole stretch of road rather than an entire interchange, Nora wondered if the most dangerous thing about their mission would be the terrain.</p><p>            “So I’m looking for railsigns,” Deacon instructed them. “Symbols we use to send messages to each other. If you like that, we’ve got signs and countersigns, dead drops, and even a secret handshake. Alright, so maybe the handshake never caught on…”</p><p>            Deacon stopped walking as the overpass ramp flattened out to point to a small chalk drawing. Someone had been here recently, marking a rusted speed limit sign with several concentric lines and an arrow symbol in the middle.</p><p>            “Railsign. Our tourist is up ahead. He should have left us a trail”.</p><p>            “Clever,” Nora remarked.</p><p>            “I’ve seen a couple of little markers like that in the Commonwealth,” Preston mentioned. “There was one like that by the bar in Goodneighbor, but it looked a little different. Can’t remember what was in the center but it wasn’t an arrow”.</p><p>            “Mayor Hancock usually turns a blind eye to the Railroad’s activities. Between that, Goodneighbor’s seedy reputation, and its relative closeness to HQ, it’s not a bad springboard for some of our operations. There are <em>problems </em>in Goodneighbor, though. Most of the gangsters, to start with”. Another couple of railsigns could be seen placed up ahead at convenient locations along the overpass as Deacon remained in the lead, shooting down one or two feral ghouls occasionally worming their way out from around the ruined car dotting the road.</p><p>            “We’re getting closer”. The last railsign that Deacon found contained a “+” symbol rather than an arrow. “See the plus in the center? That means there’s an ally nearby: our tourist”.</p><p>            He turned to Nora. “Now, I’d like <em>you</em> to take point on the conversation. No matter what he says, just say ‘mine is in the shop’. Trust me. Oh, and Preston, too many of us all going up to him are going to scare him off, so you cover our rear. We shouldn’t be more than a couple of minutes”.</p><p>            “I can do that,” Preston said, putting one hand on his laser musket crank with a smile. “I do my best work from higher ground”.</p><p>            Being instructed to take point on the conversation, Nora walked ahead of Deacon in the direction indicated by the arrow railsigns earlier. After passing a couple of cars, she could see a middle-aged man standing by the railing, looking out at the beginnings of Lexington’s downtown ruins. Not far from the wall of houses where Nora had first encountered ghouls with Codsworth, a Slocum’s Joe sign could still be seen in front of a ruined coffee shop. Half the shop’s roof had collapsed, and Nora could vaguely see someone or something walking around from within the Slocum’s Joe interior. The man turned around and approached Nora and Deacon with a strange mix of anxiety and relief and an uncommon southern accent, saying, “Aw, thank goodness! Do you have a Geiger counter? Do you have a <em>goddamn</em> Geiger Counter?!”</p><p>            “M-mine is in the shop,” Nora said worriedly. At least now, she understood a bit more about the conversation she’d had with Old Man Stockton about Geiger counters at Bunker Hill.</p><p>            “Who the hell is he?!” The man yelled, pointing at Deacon. He didn’t seem to be doing his best to remain stealthy during what seemed like a high stakes mission. “HQ said they were sending one agent, not two!”</p><p>            “S-sorry,” Deacon lied, more convincingly this time. “I’m new. She’s just showing me the ropes”.</p><p>            “All right,” the man said, calming down a little bit. “The Wall as my witness, I thought I was dead. It was about time you goddamned headquarters bastards got here”.</p><p>            “Look,” Nora said, trying to calm the man down. “It’s alright. You’re safe now. Just tell us what we need to know…”</p><p>            “Safe? <em>Safe?!</em> You think I’m goddamn safe?! That little Slocum’s Joe of yours is <em>crawlin’</em> with goddamned chrome-dome synth sons of bitches! The front’s fortified to hell and back. They’ve placed mines all over the place. If I haven’t been made yet, I’ll be spotted when I leave here! I’m goddamned trapped…”</p><p>            “They have a <em>minefield</em>?” Nora said in disbelief.</p><p>            “Yeah, the <em>mother</em> of all minefields. I couldn’t draw you a map if I tried”.</p><p>            “Anything else we should know about?”</p><p>            “I’ve told you everything I know,” he said angrily. “It’s always one more thing with you headquarters types, until I’m six-feet-under or bleeding out in some god-forsaken ditch!”</p><p>            “No, no,” Nora sighed. She needed to calm him down before he stormed off. “I’m not asking you to do anything else. I was just looking for more details. The tiniest detail could save my friend and I here in a pinch, right, uh…I didn’t catch your name?”</p><p>            He recoiled for a moment before becoming apologetic. “Y-yeah. I suppose that much is fair, sorry. I’m Ricky”.</p><p>            “You’ve done enough for us,” Nora said, putting the ‘General’ voice back on. “If you noticed <em>any</em> other details we should know about, I need them. Otherwise, just lay low and head home when the coast is clear, okay Ricky?”</p><p>            “Damned straight,” Ricky nodded. “Alright, the <em>only</em> other thing I noticed is that they move stuff in and out. Crates and the like. I’m not really sure of the details”.</p><p>            “Hopefully they haven’t fortified the place too badly,” Nora said worriedly. “Alright, I’m going to step away now and form a plan with my friend here. Good luck, Ricky”.</p><p>            “You too, lady”. Ricky Dalton could be seen gathering his things and heading into an open truck trailer to lay low while Nora and Deacon worked. They made their way over to Preston to discuss what to do next.</p><p>            “Well, isn’t Ricky just a ray of sunshine, boss? You think he’s telling the truth?” Deacon asked Nora.</p><p>            “He doesn’t seem the dishonest type. What reason would he even have to lie? And why would <em>you</em> lie to him?”</p><p>            “Well, firstly, my job at the Railroad is intel,” Deacon said seriously. “That gets a hell of a lot easier when no one else knows who I am. Secondly, people <em>always</em> have reasons to lie. The Institute could have turned him, or he could just been pissed off at us. We did leave him stranded on an overpass by himself for a couple of days. Take your pick. Now, the first rule of this business is that you <em>always</em> go with your gut, and <em>your</em> gut says he’s not lying. That means the front door has mines, synths, and probably other fun and exciting prizes, so we’ll go through the escape tunnel”.</p><p>            “A Slocum’s Joe has an escape tunnel?” Preston asked.</p><p>            “Yeah, it does,” Deacon laughed. His tone shifted quickly from cavalier to serious again: “…but seriously, thank god for that escape tunnel. Now, not far from where we came up unto the overpass, there’s a sewage ditch. Guess what’s hiding in the drain?”</p><p>            “The escape tunnel?” Nora thought, figuring the Slocum’s Joe basement perhaps had a hole into more sewer maintenance tunnels (like what had been hiding the Covenant compound).</p><p>            “The escape tunnel,” Deacon affirmed.</p><p>#</p><p>            As Deacon had promised, the escape tunnel was nearby. The trio made their way back down the overpass before moving away from Lexington’s ruins towards the nearby sewage drain. Heavy vines, weeds, and poor lighting all obscured the tunnel’s secret, but the flashlight on Nora’s Pip-Boy soon revealed an emergency door.</p><p>            “Alright,” Deacon told the two Minutemen. “The back entrance is safer, but be ready for Gen 1’s and 2’s. It’s time I told you exactly why we’re here. We’re retrieving a prototype developed by our good Doctor Carrington”.</p><p>            “What kind of prototype?” Preston asked.</p><p>            “I’ll be honest, I don’t really know myself. Railroad agents like me, well, we’re treated like mushrooms. Kept in the dark, y’know, and fed…well. Anyway, I at least know it’s gotta be important. Dez wouldn’t risk our hides on the Doctor’s prototype coffee machine, you know?”</p><p>            “Guess we’ll just have to ask the Doctor,” Nora chuckled.</p><p>            “Hey, all goes well, you two will meet him soon enough!”</p><p>            The tunnels were poorly lit and protected by a security door. Deacon groaned out of frustration before muttering “I bet You-Know-Who has already changed the locks. Gimme a second and lemme see if I can get us in”. A nearby computer terminal was still operational. Wires emerging from the terminal indicated that it was hardwired to the security door.</p><p>            “At least this thing is still on…”</p><p>            A sour-sounding terminal noise indicated that Deacon’s first attempt at opening the door had failed. “No…”</p><p>            “No…”</p><p>            “No…”</p><p>            “Don’t those things usually only give you a few tries before they lock you out?” Preston asked. “I was never much of a keyboard jockey…”</p><p>            “I know there’s a way to trace some of the duds from possible password listings,” Nora said, “but I was never much good with the hows-and-why’s of that kind of thing. At least I can break a lock with a bobby pin”.</p><p>            “Where’d you learn to do that?” Deacon asked, “Vault Doors usually either open with a Pip-Boy or a hydraulic release, right? Though you <em>do</em> carry yourself like someone who’d didn’t spend much time in the Vault”.</p><p>            “Er…” Nora hesitated for a moment. Preston was aware that she’d been alive before the Great War, but Deacon had no idea. She thought about explaining the day she woke up to take the Massachusetts State Bar Exam only to find that she’d locked her keys in the car. Explaining that to someone who had probably never even heard the word <em>Massachusetts</em> before would be easier said than done, if that someone was Deacon.</p><p>            Or so she thought.</p><p>            “Probably a lot of things you could have locked yourself out of before the War, huh? Probably a few more bobby pins lying around too”.</p><p>            Preston and Nora were both astonished. “How would you <em>know</em> something like that?”</p><p>            “An issue you did some time ago with Publick Occurrences,” Deacon mentioned, eluding to when Nora had first met Piper. “I remembered the latest Minuteman General comes from a Vault. Oh, I should also mention that we have a lot of old records of pre-War institutions and records, including Vault-Tec. It’s my job to know things, remember? I found it pretty crazy that Vault 111 was a cryogenic storage unit, although PAM had to re-calculate half her matrices when she found out that the Vault had surviving inhabitant”.</p><p>            A satisfying <em>beep</em> could be heard from the terminal with the door controls as Deacon typed in the last password he could remember. “<em>Missed one, ya’ cocky bastards</em>”.</p><p>            “Wow, musta’ been a good password for the Institute to miss it,” Preston remarked.</p><p>            “I dunno,” Deacon joked, “Carrington always told me not to use <em>password</em> as a password”. With a cocky chuckle, he moved to open the door, only to be greeted to another railsign. This one was unique from the others by virtue of the chalk used to draw it still being clutched in the dead body of a decomposing Railroad agent. Nora had gotten used to the smell of decay in the wasteland, but this corpse seemed particularly <em>ripe</em>.</p><p>            “He’s only been here a few months,” Deacon mumbled, pulling a bandana from his pocket and protecting his nose. “That railsign means danger, by the way. We know, you poor dead bastard. We know”.</p><p>            Movement could be heard further on into the sewer catacombs. Deacon and Nora recognized the sounds as those originated only from the older-model synths.</p><p>            “Y’know, the Institute didn’t start out building nigh-perfect copies of human beings,” Deacon explained to Nora and Preston, “though I’m sure you already know they had to work up to that level of hubris.The Gen 1’s and Gen 2’s were stepping-stones along the way, and even though we all know how my coworkers feel about the human synths, the Railroad’s not fully united on where we stand with the older ones”.</p><p>            “They don’t seem like much more than glorified Protectrons to me,” Nora mentioned, “with the exception of one Gen 2 I met in Diamond City”.</p><p>            “I’ve heard of Nick Valentine,” Deacon chuckled. “I’d consider <em>him</em> a Gen 3 with less organic bits. He’s got the Gen 3 personality matrix, which is to say he <em>has </em>personality, y’know? But the older units up ahead? I like your description, <em>glorified Protectron</em>. Hell, they’re just less ugly versions of Protectrons to me, but some people in the Railroad don’t see it the same way. Any time it gets brought up: fireworks. The upshot is that Glory and some of the others won’t run missions like this since they don’t want to hurt the Gen 1’s, but with that mentality, where does one draw the line? AI rights? Terminals? Turrets?”</p><p>            “Well, I’ve never met Glory,” Nora chuckled. “I remember that Desdemona said I gave her a run for her money, but since she’s not here, I don’t think you have to worry about Preston or I objecting to clearing out the Gen 1s or Gen 2s with you”.</p><p>            “Glory was the one pointing the minigun at you when we first met, but good to know you’re on board”.</p><p>            Indeed, there were plenty of Gen 1 and Gen 2 synths patrolling the sewer tunnels leading to the old Railroad HQ. Deacon took point, sticking to the shadows and firing off quick, precise shots with his sniper rifle. In areas where the concentration of synths was at its heaviest, Preston and Nora would back him up with shots from their laser musket or 10mm pistol.</p><p>            “This seems a little too easy,” Preston observed, looking around at the winding tunnels and relatively low number of destroyed synths. “I’d have expected more pushback by the Institute over the old HQ of the Railroad. This just seems like a glorified scavenging team”.</p><p>            “This is a patrol team,” Deacon warned Preston. “These tunnels weren’t HQ. We’ve got a bit of a ways to go before we make it to HQ”.</p><p>            “Strange that the sewer tunnels run so deep in this part of Lexington,” Nora mused, before pointing to a railsign.</p><p>            “What’s that one? It’s got a box inside of it”.</p><p>            “Oh!” Deacon chuckled. “There’s a cache nearby. Someone hid something way before… y’know. Just…see any boxes or anything nearby? Maybe something <em>hidden</em>?”</p><p>            They searched the area near the railsign before Preston discovered a hidden cooler in a ventilation duct. It was locked.</p><p>            “Madame General Femme Fatale,” Deacon called to Nora, “show us that trick with the bobby pins”. One bobby pin was all that it took to reveal that the cooler was filled with several types of ammunition. Satisfied, the trio made their way further into the tunnels, passing by more dead Railroad agents, more destroyed machine gun turrets, and more old synths waiting to be dismantled.</p><p>            “Tinker managed to turn on the defenses,” Deacon said, gesturing to one particularly destroyed turret. “It barely slowed the Coursers down, but it probably saved some lives. Now I know you’re a badass Courser killing machine, but if you see any Coursers here, it’s probably best we run”.</p><p>            “Technically <em>Preston</em> is the Courser killer,” Nora chuckled, causing Preston to blush a little from both pride and embarrassment. “I guess even the best Institute technology can’t survive a six-crank shot between the eyeballs”.</p><p>            “I had a lot of help,” Preston laughed. “You, the other Minutemen, the Brotherhood team, Paladin Danse… he’s probably right though, General. If we see any Coursers, we should run. I dunno if the prototype is worth the gamble”.</p><p>            “I don’t need to get the rest of my face burned off,” Nora mumbled.</p><p>            “So, what <em>is</em> it with you and the Brotherhood, anyway?” Deacon asked. “I <em>did</em> say that rule number one in this business is to follow your gut. My gut tells me you’re not as bigoted as they’d like you to be, and the Brotherhood hasn’t been known for its altruism since the Capital Wasteland and Project Purity, back when they were under totally different leadership. Dez was talking about seeing if you’d infiltrate them for us…but you don’t really seem the type to do that either”.</p><p>            “What’s your end game, Nora? Who are you, really?”  There was a long pause while Nora considered his question. As she thought in silence, the group reached another group of machine turrets. This particular set was still <em>intact</em>.</p><p>            “We didn’t have time to fire up the defenses up ahead,” Deacon whispered. “Boot up that terminal, issue the command I tell you to, and we can give our friends here a little surprise”.</p><p>            A couple of suggested passwords from Deacon resulted in Nora managing to quickly unlock the terminal. With the command <strong>start turretbootup.exe</strong>, the machine gun turrets posted ahead sprang to life.</p><p>            “Engaging ene—” a synth voice began to say before shutting down from machine gun fire.</p><p>            “Destruction of fellow synth ver—”</p><p>            Deacon typed in another command in the terminal, shutting down the machine gun program. “You two aren’t in the approved biometrics list yet, sorry”. Despite having to be stopped before all the synths were eliminated, the turrets had proven immensely useful, cutting the opposition’s numbers in half. The group reached the end of the sewer tunnels before much longer. Nora could see that underground security doors didn’t fully conceal that there was some sort of <em>military base</em> within the tunnels.</p><p>            “Prepare to be surprised,” Deacon boasted. “Not every Slocum’s Joe has a giant underground tunnel complex beneath it. We’re entering a secret Defense Intelligence Agency research lab. This is a place that never officially existed, known in pre-War records as The Switchboard. Pre-War eggheads from your time spent their brain cells here trying to outwit the Red Menace. Even though that didn’t go so well for them, they managed to build a lab so strong it’s held up after all these years. The prototype is hopefully still in a secure lock-up in the heart of the facility. Be careful, guys. If there’s more synths or Coursers deployed here, <em>this</em> is where they’ll be”.</p><p>            “Ricky said they were carrying crates in and out,” Nora mused.</p><p>            “Probably scavenging up anything useful,” Preston added.</p><p>            “Man…I really hope they didn’t get into--- nevermind that for now,” Deacon said. “C’mon”.</p><p>            Exiting the darkness of the sewer tunnels, the group made it into the main part of the DIA lab only to immediately get the attention of a synth patrol on the second floor.</p><p>            “You must die now,” a robotic voice said to Nora, before promptly shooting several rounds of automatic laser rifle fire right into Nora’s chest. She toppled backwards and fell down to the floor, scaring Deacon and Preston. Both men were in the middle of aiming long range shots from their sniper rifle and laser musket to the advancing synths coming down the stairs.</p><p>            “General?! General! Can you hear me?!”</p><p>            A second surprise was waiting for Preston. Despite taking several laser shots to the chest, Nora was still <em>very</em> much alive, rolling over on her back and shooting at the frontmost synth with her pistol until it fell.</p><p>            “<em>Damn</em>, that really is good armor,” Nora muttered, getting up to her feet. Obvious scorch marks riddled the front of the suit, but Preston could see layers of leather and steel still intact under the burnt lining. None of the shots had actually penetrated the bottom layers of armor.</p><p>            “A-are you alright, General?”</p><p>            “Gotta hand it to the Brotherhood. That <em>hurt</em>, but it should have punched a hole in my heart. They know how to make a good Vault Suit”.</p><p>            “Guess they’re good for <em>something</em>,” Deacon spat, before noticing Nora run forward.</p><p>            “H-hey! You just got shot! Stay back!”</p><p>            “I’m the one wearing thirty pounds of leather and steel from neck to toe! <em>You </em>stay back!”</p><p>            <em>Well, now I understand why she didn’t bother putting armor over the suit</em>, Preston thought to himself. He couldn’t help but notice that something was <em>different</em> about Nora. She’d always been <em>capable</em>, but the woman leading the assault on The Switchboard now was a stark change in pace from the somewhat reluctant leader who had first agreed to help him rebuild the Minutemen. Even in Covenant, she seemed a bit unsure if she were <em>really</em> fit for the job, but here in the DIA lab, she seemed fully convinced she’d lead the group to victory.</p><p>            Hell, he was convinced too. Following behind her with Deacon and gunning down the remaining synths in the corridors, he couldn’t deny that he still had feelings for her. <em>Now</em>, however, those feelings were taking on more than one dimension. When Preston had first joined the Minutemen, he remembered looking up to veteran militia men and former Generals who’d worked to keep the Commonwealth safe from its many threats for years. Under the old veterans, he’d heard stories passed down of what old society had looked like, from their grandparents and great-grandparents before them. One of his favorite memories from the old-timers was hearing them muse on how once upon a time, the various settlements of the Commonwealth had all been one massive, pre-War entity: Boston. His parents had been young when the dream of renewing some form of that entity had almost come true during the formation of the CPG. The Institute had killed that dream in its crib, he’d thought.</p><p>            Looking at Nora’s back now, feeling her leading both him and Deacon effortlessly, he suddenly wondered if that dream had been born again. When the last synths had been dispatched, the group ransacked the cabinets of the DIA lab, making their way to the heart of the facility. Nora had Deacon look over all the documents she’d collected so that he could remove anything incriminating about the Railroad before she kept the rest to sell to Proctor Quinlan.</p><p>            “I know you had to think about what I asked for a bit,” Deacon said. “It’s a big question. I’m still waiting on an answer though”.</p><p>            “Deacon, when the dust settles and I’ve got my son back, what kind of world is he going to live in?”</p><p>            “Hopefully not one where the Brotherhood has him running around, terrorizing the rest of the ‘Wealth. Although I suppose if one of their Knights happens to be the General of the Minutemen, they’ll be more willing to parley with the peasants under her jurisdiction, fine. That explains the Minutemen and the Brotherhood working together long term, but where does the <em>Railroad</em> fall into that jurisdiction? I don’t know much about their top brass, but they don’t seem the most <em>compromising</em> bunch, y’know?”</p><p>            “They’re not,” Preston added, “though I <em>have</em> been surprised before. Paladin Danse, for example. He might talk a big game, but he’s helped us out even when he’s had no real reason to. He could just be a cut above the rest though”.</p><p>            “One relatively nice individual does not an evil army undo,” Deacon advised.</p><p>            “Elder Maxson’s a bit like him too, though,” Nora added, gaining raised eyebrows from both Deacon and Preston.</p><p>            “Wait, you mean you’ve met their head honcho?”</p><p>            “…yeah. We’ve met”. Nora did her best to suppress <em>awkward</em> memories from her last talk with Maxson. Preston and Deacon seemed oblivious to her discomfort on the topic. To keep them oblivious, she quickly pushed the conversation forward. “I mean --- he’s the one who called in the heavier firepower for the Minutemen when we were pushing forward into the east. I do some work for him on the side, we negotiate the Brotherhood and the Minutemen having trade relations that don’t involve less idealistic members of the Brotherhood getting their own ideas”.</p><p>            “Right,” Deacon remarked sarcastically, “bribe the neighborhood bully into playing nicely with the other kids on the playground. The problem is most people in the Brotherhood are about twenty years too late to be treated like children anymore. They ought to know better…”</p><p>            “Agreed,” Preston said. “I can’t believe you have to <em>negotiate </em>that”.</p><p>            “Well…you guys realize Maxson’s younger than all of us, right?”<br/>
            “Wait, really?” Preston said. “He’s just a kid”.</p><p>            “I’m interested. I don’t get a lot of intel about the top brass of the Brotherhood. They aren’t that loose-lipped, y’know”.</p><p>            “I wouldn’t know about him being a <em>kid, </em>but trust me,” Nora said. “In my time, he would have barely been out of high school. Yeah, I <em>get</em> that the Brotherhood have some bad apples in the bunch, but their leader is an idealistic young man who has never known any other kind of life. It’s like one of those stories where a kid gets made the king of a country and the advisors are all whispering bullshit into his ears”.</p><p>            “So…he’s still wet clay,” Deacon chuckled. “And you’re trying to get your hands on that wet clay while there’s still some ability to shape it”.</p><p>            “I’d call him hot steel, no pun intended,” Nora said, hiding the fact that she was uncomfortable with the ‘get your hands on’ part of the analogy more than anything else. “Wet clay implies I could convince him of <em>anything. </em>Maxson’s born and raised Brotherhood, descended all the way from their original leader. The Brotherhood have been working on him since the moment he was born, so I can’t just convince him to disband the group and join the Minutemen”.</p><p>            “So what’s the point, if you can’t work him over enough to make him docile?”<br/>
            “Deacon, <em>think about it</em>. The man sits on the largest army in the Commonwealth besides arguably the Institute, and I don’t think even the Institute have the kind of widespread firepower that the Brotherhood has. Think of a few things the Brotherhood believe in, good or bad. If we could change their mind on even just <em>one </em>thing, it could be the difference between dozens or maybe even hundreds of lives!”</p><p>            “Depends on what you change their mind about,” Deacon grumbled.</p><p>            “Yeah…but I <em>guess</em> if the one thing you could change was something <em>really</em> particular…” Preston added.</p><p>            “I already know what I want to change”.</p><p>            “You do?” Both men asked her incredulously.</p><p>            “I do. <em>Who they hunt down and kill, or don’t, when the Institute is dealt with</em>”.</p><p>            “You are going to need a fucking miracle to convince the Brotherhood, even the most <em>idealistic</em> members of the Brotherhood, of something like that,” Deacon advised her. “We’re synth sympathizers, remember? That makes us traitors in their book, and I don’t need a lot of intelligence to know how the Brotherhood handles people who they consider traitors”.</p><p>            “This is a dangerous game you’re playing, General. It’s a good cause, and it would save a lot of innocent people, but you’re risking your neck. I’m not sure reforming them is worth the trouble”.</p><p>            “I <em>know</em> that, guys. I know”.</p><p>            “How would you even get them to turn their sights away from the Railroad and synths though? Even if you somehow do manage to pull off the distraction game, they’re pretty stubborn. Just because you stop them from, say, actively looking for escaped synths, doesn’t mean they won’t gun down any synths or Railroad they passively stumble across. The Railroad is an entire network of safe-houses and agents spread across the Commonwealth. Sooner or later, the Brotherhood <em>will</em> find one unless we stop them first”.</p><p>            “What if we made the Railroad network part of the Minutemen network?”</p><p>            Preston’s blank expression remained for only a moment before he suddenly began grinning and clapping his hands. Deacon seemed taken aback.</p><p>            “Wait…you’re suggesting…” Deacon murmured.</p><p>            “General, I knew --- I <em>knew</em> --- you were the right person for the Commonwealth!”</p><p>            “Come with us, Deacon. Not just you, but the whole Railroad. When we take over the Castle, we’ll have a lot more room to re-coordinate our settlements and trade routes. We can set them up with the Railroad in mind and hide you <em>in plain sight</em>. If we do that, as long as I can keep the Brotherhood off the Minutemen, I’m keeping them off of you too”.</p><p>            “There’s a lot of synth bigotry in the Commonwealth, Nora. Even in the Minutemen. I’m convinced you two are fine, but that doesn’t do a lot to ease my fears about other Minutemen. I hear some of them are quite <em>keen</em> on the Brotherhood’s way of running things”.</p><p>            “I’m sure we can figure that out as we go,” Nora said. “Look, I’m not asking you to shack up with us <em>tomorrow</em>. We don’t even have to come to an agreement on that, I’m just asking you to <em>consider</em> the possibilities. Maybe run it by Dez? The worst you could tell me is ‘no thanks’, right Deacon?”</p><p>            “I suppose that’s true, boss,” Deacon chuckled. The group had approached a giant bank-vault style door at the heart of the facility. Even the Institute had not managed to unseal its contents yet, though a few crates of welding tools and microchips had indicated that Institute forces had <em>tried</em> to breach the door. Noting that the terminal in front of the door had been the only one the Institute had not managed to hack into, Deacon went up to the terminal and began his work.</p><p>            “Where’s that play button…” he murmured, before another voice echoed back from the terminal through a recorded message: “Carrington. Stanley. Salus aegroti suprema lex”.</p><p>            “Open says me,” Deacon responded back, mocking Dr. Carrington’s voice as the door unsealed. The lingering scent of decay and <em>smoke</em> rushed from the secured room, causing everyone to gag.</p><p>            “Ugh…! What <em>is</em> that?” Preston winced.</p><p>            “Is that…oh god,” Deacon said in horror.</p><p>            “What’s that?” Nora asked. Deacon was pointing to a partially mummified corpse in full heavy leather armor.  The body wasn’t far away from the remnants of some kind of makeshift fire. Wooden shelves and papers had been used for kindling.</p><p>            “There was a lot of sensitive information in here. Looks like he started a fire and burnt the evidence so that the Institute couldn’t get their hands on any of it. There’s no air flow in here though”.</p><p>            “He suffocated to death on the smoke,” Preston sighed. “What a way to go”.</p><p>            “So…Tommy Whispers didn’t make it. He <em>died</em> protecting our secrets,” Deacon murmured, bending down to take something from Tommy’s remains “Y’know, he was a good guy. You two probably would have liked him. Hell, I think his dad used to run with the old Minutemen back in their hey-day”.</p><p>            “Sounds like a loyal man down to the end. I bet we <em>would</em> have liked him. Poor guy,” Nora whispered. She cocked an eyebrow as she noticed that Deacon was holding Tommy’s gun out towards her, grip end facing towards her. It was a much smaller gun than what she was used to seeing, reminding her of a long-ago gun commercial where the salesman was advertising guns small enough to slip into a woman’s purse.</p><p>            “Deacon?”</p><p>            “I think he would have liked you too, y’know? Old friend of mine. Anyway, Tommy would have wanted you to have his hand-cannon. Don’t let its size fool you. This thing has some <em>crazy</em> stopping power”.</p><p>            “You’re just going to give this to me?” Nora asked.</p><p>            “You remember Tinker Tom, right? From when you brought the Courser Chip in for us? A lot of our best ordinance is stuff he makes himself or restores. This gun is <em>serious</em> old-world tech, y’know? It’s powerful <em>and</em> quiet. Call it my vote of confidence in you. Now, let’s get that prototype back to Desdemona. If you show up with that thing in hand, she’ll <em>have</em> to let you into our merry band. Once that’s done and you’re formally part of the Railroad, I’m sure she’ll be more confident about talking about your signal inter-whatever thingie, y’know? Hell, maybe even your hare-brained scheme about the Minutemen might be up for consideration”.</p><p>            “I vote we get out of here then,” Preston said. “We heading back through the escape tunnel?”</p><p>            “Nah, let’s clear the mines,” Deacon grinned. “If you can disarm those things before they go off, they’re a pretty penny. Of course, that’s assuming we don’t need them for something else first”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Deacon had been surprised by Preston’s decision to have the group return to Starlight Drive-In before heading in the direction of the Old North Church.</p><p>            “We need to get back to the party immediately”. He spoke in code, avoiding the use of the word ‘package’ as it referred to a synth in his mind. “Who knows what kind of <em>fun</em> we’re missing?”</p><p>            “Oh, we’re going to <em>party</em>,” Preston laughed.</p><p>            “I have to stop by your party on the way to mine anyway,” Nora explained. “So I might as well pick up some party favors first, right Deacon?”</p><p>            “Sure,” Deacon said a bit nervously. “Just promise me the party favors won’t take too long, eh? What’re you getting, anyway?”</p><p>            “Oh…” Nora said slyly. “…just the invitations. Hell, maybe you’ll stop by?”</p><p>            “Depends on my schedule, General. I’m a busy man, y’know? But I suppose we could crack open a couple beers together”.</p><p>            At the Minuteman factory in Starlight, production had already begun on standard armaments for the Minutemen forces. From the moment Starlight had been conquered, Sturges had begun work on plans to outfit the entire Minuteman force with decent weapons and armor. Before Nora had left to join the Brotherhood of Steel, one of the many projects that she’d approved was Sturges uniform design. Paired with Nora’s own personal suggestion that each Minuteman be issued both a short range and a long range weapon, the armament issue was meant to make the Minutemen more formidable to any remaining raider outfits or super mutant hunting parties still operating on the outskirts of Minutemen territory. There were other operations also going on at the factory. A <em>disassembly</em> line had been put together by Sturges, breaking down found items from salvage brought in by caravans into usable resources and parts to fuel the assembly lines. Excess salvage was taken to a new building that had just been constructed on the Starlight grounds that everyone called “the Silo”. From the Silo, an old friend of Nora’s saw the import and export of salvage items for Caps or different types of material.</p><p>            “Hey! You <em>promised</em> you’d visit me in Sanctuary!” The Vault-Tec representative’s corporate sales experience made him the prime candidate to manage Minuteman inventory and oversee the shipment of excess salvage to and from Starlight.</p><p>            “Two hundred years of sales experience really paid off for that guy in the end,” Sturges said. “Your friend Bert’s been able to strike up deals with passing caravans I’ve never seen anyone pull off before. We’re actually not in the red anymore”.</p><p>            “I haven’t been to Sanctuary since before I met you again, Bert,” Nora smiled at the salesman. “The General of the Minutemen is a busy woman”.</p><p>            “Well, I guess I’ll let you off the hook this time, considering I’ve got such a <em>swell</em> set-up now as the inventory foreman,” Bert rasped.</p><p>            “Look at the two of us,” he added as a compliment. “…prepared for the future! Besides, the Commonwealth Minutemen have an expansion budget now. Every time Sturges runs a new scrap shipment through the line, we usually manage to pull in a few hundred Caps! Don’t ask about that time someone found a whole slew of gold and silver pocket watches!”</p><p>            “Even the Brotherhood of Steel buy from here,” Sturges added. “Although they prefer to talk with that boy you brought in who was pretending to be Preston”.</p><p>            “Oh, Taderic,” the ghoul salesman said. “Funny story about that kid. His parents couldn’t decide whether to call him Tad or Eric so they just named him both. A lot of folks would have gunned that kid down for what he did, but you did something awful nice for him, making him work off his crime. Turns out, General, he’s a natural-born salesman. When he’s done with his community service term, he’s actually looking forward to having a <em>real </em>job working for me”.</p><p>            “That’s our General. Always the redemptive type. One day that kid will thank you for it, Nora. You’re a damned good woman”.</p><p>            “And you’re damned good at keeping the Minutemen afloat when I’m not around, Sturges”.</p><p>            “Hey, I do my best,” Sturges laughed, before his tone dulled a bit. “Y’know, out of necessity we went to Fort Hagen for one of our scrap runs”. Nora remembered her fight with Kellogg and gulped a bit. “Right. You burn that rotting corpse for me?”</p><p>            “We didn’t find any bodies, General. No synths or anything. We know ya’ killed Kellogg. You took a chunk of his brain for God’s sake. There wasn’t anything left, though. I’m guessing the Institute came back to collect their broken toys”.</p><p>            “Maybe…” Nora trailed off. “…Sturges. What about Codsworth?”</p><p>            “I found him. I couldn’t fix him, General, sorry. I did keep a little something for you to remember him by, though. Some of his processor chips are still intact, but with no memory chips, central power systems, or chassis…even if I built a whole new robot it wouldn’t be him”. Sturges reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a small circuitboard --- the only undamaged piece of Codsworth left in the world. Nora took it solemnly and put it in her Pip-Boy alongside Nate’s picture.</p><p>            “Thanks, Sturges”.</p><p>            “I thought it was at least worth a try. Let’s change the subject, General. You called ahead and ordered something <em>special</em>?”  Nora’s had sent several transmissions from the Prydwen to the Minutemen while she’d been recovering from the deathclaw attack. One particular request had been for Sturges directly.</p><p>            “A few firecrackers for a late night show?”</p><p>            “Something of the sort,” Nora smiled. By <em>firecrackers</em>, she’d meant a couple of missile launchers.</p><p>            “Firecrackers? Oh, damn, <em>I do</em> want an invite to this party,” Deacon grinned. “Where’s it at?”</p><p>            “Fort Independence”.</p><p>            “Alright…I admit it. Taking back the Castle for the Minutemen <em>would </em>be pretty cool. Once we make a stop at my place, I think I’d like to join in”.</p><p>            “You’ve already got a sniper rifle. We’ll get you one of the forty-four revolvers that we’ve got handy from the manufacturing line”.</p><p>            “Forty-fours? Man, the Minutemen mean business”.</p><p>            “We don’t have a ton of those,” Sturges warned Deacon. “General must like you”.</p><p>            “Give him a Minuteman uniform and a set of armor too. Consider it your formal invitation, Deacon”.</p><p>            While Sturges took Deacon to get outfitted, Preston explained the basics of his plan to Nora.</p><p>            “We’ve sent word to a large group of Minutemen patrols to gather around Fort Independenece. Some of them area already close to the area doing reconnaissance, but a second group of Minutemen are on standby waiting for us to begin the assault. We have about forty soldiers all in all between the two groups. Of course, we’ll also have you, me, and Deacon too it looks like. I kinda wish MacCready were here”.</p><p>            “MacCready has better things to do,” Nora said. “He’s gone home to his son in the Capital Wasteland”.</p><p>            “Happy endings, General. Here’s hoping our luck continues. Do the Brotherhood know we’re trying to take back the Castle?”</p><p>            “No, but they <em>did</em> tell me to let them know when we were at Fort Independence. They want to help”.</p><p>            “They say that,” Preston said. “And maybe your friends are telling the truth, but I kinda doubt there won’t be more to it with the Brotherhood. Besides, you should know our initial scouts reported the Castle’s not too bad off. There’s a lot of Mirelurks, sure, but nothing a large Minuteman force can’t handle, especially since we’re all armed and armored now”.</p><p>            “I can understand your reservations, Preston,” Nora said. “The Brotherhood can be overbearing, and it’s <em>very</em> annoying. Still, it might not be a bad idea to just let them know that we’ll be storming the fort soon. That way at least we have help on standby if something bad happens”.</p><p>            Nora’s eyes narrowed before Preston could protest. “Besides…I kinda wonder about what could still be lurking at a heavily fortified Minuteman military base that was attacked and lost forty-years ago by some unknown monster. Hopefully whatever did the job isn’t there anymore, but we shouldn’t be too careful”.</p><p>            “I’m not gonna lie to you, General. Sometimes I wonder whose side you’re really on,” Preston said. “But…it’s your call. There’s always a bigger angle with you, isn’t there?”</p><p>            “The only side I’m on is the side that gets us all home safely,” Nora retorted. “Relax though, I won’t call them until we’re at the base and ready to start the attack, okay?”</p><p>#</p><p>            Much to Preston’s surprise, Deacon had actually sided with Nora once he’d been informed of Nora’s decision to call the Brotherhood for back-up.</p><p>            “Hey, I’m always looking for more opportunities to stick my nose into other people’s business,” Deacon explained. “I’ve been looking for intelligence on the Brotherhood since the airship flew into town. Call them in. We take the Castle with a vengeance for the Minutemen, the Brotherhood help minimize your casualties, and maybe I listen in on some Brotherhood banter and learn something interesting?”</p><p>            “I can’t say I completely approve of that,” Nora sighed, “but I suppose I won’t stop you. Just remember, they’re human beings too, okay? I’m trying to <em>not</em> give the Brotherhood more reasons to go to war”.</p><p>            “Peace is the virtue of civilization,” Deacon replied. “Victor Hugo, though I might be paraphrasing. Anyway, I’m not saying I’m opposed to bloodless solutions, but I’m just brainstorming backup plans in case things go wrong. Never hurts to have a backup plan, right?”</p><p>            “No comment, Deacon…”</p><p>            Nora’s attention focused on the radio operator for Starlight Drive-In. The Minutemen settlements were linked together by radio transmissions and caravans. Knowing that Preston and Deacon were ready to move out, Nora went up to the radio tower and tapped the operator on the shoulder.</p><p>            “Radio the troops,” she said. “We’re starting Operation Independence. We’re moving out”. The radio-man nodded and set to work putting out the broadcast. Nora returned to Preston and Deacon, both of whom were now staring at the main gate leading out of Starlight Drive-In. The plan was to head south towards Diamond City, meet up with a segment of Minutemen troops there, and then progress east to Bunker Hill and further south to the Castle. Between Bunker Hill and the Castle, Nora and Deacon would break from the group for ‘classified’ preparations. Until the trio arrived in Cambridge, the first leg of their trip was uneventful.</p><p>            Nora was not expecting a Brotherhood of Steel patrol to stop her as the group made their way through the backroads of Cambridge. Out of respect to Deacon, they had purposefully chosen to avoid the front gate of the Brotherhood’s outpost. It was better to reach Diamond City quickly without being questioned.</p><p>            “Mulyer!” The Knight-Sergeant at the head of the patrol called out her name.</p><p>            “Er, with all due respect, Sergeant, we’re on urgent business”.</p><p>            “It can’t wait. Orders from the top. Top brass wants to talk to you at the police station”.</p><p>            “I’ve got Minutemen with me that are waiting. We can’t spare long”.</p><p>            “Bring them too, Mulyer. I doubt the Paladin will mind”.</p><p>            <em>The</em> Paladin. Apparently Danse had made his way from the Prydwen back to Cambridge during the time that Nora was gone. The General of the Minutemen half-suspected that Danse had either chosen or been ordered to wait at Cambridge in case she happened to pass by again.</p><p>            “Let’s just get this over with,” Preston mumbled. “We could do a lot worse than Danse”.</p><p>            “Don’t look at me,” Deacon said, more at the Brotherhood troops than Preston or Nora. “I’m just following orders, y’know?”  The Knight-Sergeant directed Nora to the back gate of the Cambridge station, yelling over the gate “Minuteman General entering the compound!” Once Nora and the others made it into the police station, she was almost immediately approached by Danse.</p><p>            Preston and Deacon stood in silence a bit behind Nora, Preston’s eyes staying on Nora while Deacon casually took in behavior patterns within the Cambridge Police Station’s staff. Danse’s rank insignia had changed: there was now an additional diamond marking underneath the sword and shield that marked him as a Paladin.</p><p>            “Congratulations on the promotion, <em>Star Paladin</em>”. She gave him a quick salute.</p><p>            “At ease. I know you’re not on Brotherhood business right now. I won’t hold you to too many formalities,” Danse smiled at her. “Elder Maxson said if you passed by to check up on you. How goes the good work, soldier?”</p><p>            “Nothing significant. We did some work for a few settlements and some outlying allies with the Minutemen. We were just on our way to another job”.</p><p>            “<em>I see</em>,” Danse mused, before allowing his scowl to turn into a frown.</p><p>            “And this latest job: does it involve Fort Independence by some chance?”</p><p>            Nora’s face fell. “You were listening in on our radio surveillance again, huh Danse?”</p><p>            <em>Note to self: that’s going to have to get figured out.</em></p><p>Danse crossed his arms and looked at Nora as though he were scolding a child. “Didn’t you <em>just</em> get out of the infirmary? That deathclaw nearly wore your guts for garters”.</p><p>            “<em>Guts for garters</em>,” Nora laughed, “with all due respect, that’s not something I thought <em>you</em>’<em>d </em>ever say”.</p><p>            “I was fucking worried about you, dammit,” Danse groaned. Nora recoiled a bit. Danse had never used the word <em>fucking</em> before, apparently considering it just a bit too crass for his own personal use. “You <em>just</em> get better and then you march to an abandoned fort in the middle of nowhere?”</p><p>            “What’s this about a deathclaw?” Preston asked.</p><p>            “Glowing Sea,” Nora explained. “We uh…stumbled upon their mating display and pissed off the female deathclaw. I spent a couple days in the infirmary getting over that”.</p><p>            “A couple days?! It was the better part of a week! You nearly died!” Danse yelled.</p><p>            “Woah, General,” Deacon advised, “he’s actually right. All of a sudden I’m not sure I like the idea of us rushing off to the Castle”.</p><p>            “Oh I’m sorry, <em>new guy. </em>Who died and made you General?” Nora barked.</p><p>            “Preston,” Danse asked. “You’re her second-in-command. Talk some sense into her”.</p><p>            “Uh…well on the one hand, she’s obviously recovered a bit. We had no issues at…doing that thing we were doing”.</p><p>            “What <em>thing</em>?” Danse barked, more commanding than asking.</p><p>            “Official Minutemen business,” Nora stated. “I don’t have to tell you”.</p><p>            “Wha— the hell you don’t! I’m your commanding officer!”</p><p>            “<em>In the Brotherhood</em>. My business with the Minutemen doesn’t fall under your rank, so this isn’t your concern. Besides, the Elder knew this was going to happen, Paladin. Take it up with him”.</p><p>            “He knew about the Castle,” Danse elaborated, “and even then, I’m aware he told you to let us know when you began that operation. I’m not trying to be an asshole here, but you need to think about <em>all</em> your priorities here. For both the Brotherhood and the Minutemen’s sakes, Nora, we can’t afford to lose you”.</p><p>            “He sure does like her,” Deacon mused, while Danse continued accosting Nora. “I wonder what the Brotherhood want from her to make him <em>that</em> concerned about her”.</p><p>            “The concern is more Danse than the Brotherhood,” Preston mumbled. “He’s probably one of the better ones the Brotherhood has on offer”.</p><p>            <em>There’s always one good person in the evil army. Gotta love those literary ‘tropes’. </em>Deacon reminded himself. Nora and Danse were still arguing in the foreground, although Danse had finally reached the point of making a concession.</p><p>            “I’m going with you”.</p><p>            “What? This isn’t Brotherhood business. You can’t just swoop in and take over the Castle. Elder Maxson and I have a deal!”</p><p>            “I <em>know</em> about your agreement with Maxson, Knight. We support the Minutemen as a separate organization. This is <em>your </em>army. With that being said, Maxson’ll have my head on a plate if I just let you do something that’ll cause you to come to harm. I know he gave you a hell of a gift when he had Teagan give your Vault Suit the battle-coat treatment, but my orders were to return to Cambridge to be on the field in case <em>you</em> needed me, so if you’re going to Fort Independence to clear the ruins, I’m going too”.</p><p>            “I thought the Brotherhood wasn’t supposed to get involved with civilian business,” Nora scoffed. “Didn’t you say something to that effect when I was heading to Diamond City all those months ago?”</p><p>            “Things change,” Danse smirked. “We’re making an exception for the Minutemen today, since their --- <em>your</em> --- cause is noble. Part of me can’t believe I’m saying this, but consider me your newest contractor”.</p><p>            “Danse? Join the Minutemen?” Preston laughed. “Will the Mirelurks at the Castle sprout wings and fly?”</p><p>            “Creator above, I hope not,” Danse laughed. “Let’s make one thing clear. I’m not <em>joining</em>, just <em>assisting</em>. I’m not usually a proponent of focusing my attention on things that aren’t Brotherhood matters, but I <em>do</em> have a close friend who just happens to be the Minutemen’s General. I’ll be damned if I let you take that fort back alone”.</p><p>            “I won’t turn down a combat veteran in a full set of power armor,” Nora laughed.</p><p>            “We just get one?” Deacon joked. Danse looked at Deacon with a sinister smile.</p><p>            “Gimme a laser rifle and my power armor and I’ll take on the world. <em>One</em> of me is all you need…”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0031"><h2>31. The Ruins As They Were</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 31: In which the Minutemen, the Brotherhood, and the Railroad all confront a shadow of the Institute's worst impulses; and each others.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>THE RUINS AS THEY WERE</h1><p>
  <em>“This case is possibly the worst/that I have ever seen/I see how vulnerable we/as people can truly be” – Coheed and Cambria “Number City”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            The night of January 11<sup>th</sup> was spent in Bunker Hill, making the Savoldi family happy by booking the entire inn. The residents of Bunker Hill marveled at the fact that the Minutemen were bringing in <em>tons</em> of extra business. The extra squadron of Minutemen who’d met up with Nora’s group outside Diamond City needed to stock up on foodstuffs and ammunition and had hesitated to do so at Diamond City because they didn’t want to miss meeting up with the General herself. Bunker Hill was just as good a place as any to restock on supplies. Since it was such a popular pit stop in the Commonwealth, it was also a good place to relax for the night.</p><p>            Deacon took full advantage of this as he watched Preston and the other Minuteman gather in the main square of Bunker Hill and spend the wee hours of the evening chatting about the latest exploits of the Minutemen. Their matching sets of uniformed coats and reinforced leather armor looked good on them. Thinking of old photographs he’d seen from a long-forgotten time where Bunker Hill had been a military monument, he wondered if military men from two-hundred years ago had gathered around Bunker Hill, drinking to their exploits, just as Preston and the others were doing now. At least it made them easy to shake off.</p><p>            Danse was harder to pry away from Nora, although a stroke of good fortune finally occurred after Deacon had requisitioned two stealth boys from Old Man Stockton. A small patrol of Brotherhood soldiers had entered Bunker Hill to re-supply.</p><p>            “Paladin Danse?” One of them had asked. “What are you doing here, sir?”</p><p>            “Oh, Knight-Captain!” Paladin Danse chuckled at the only soldier in the batch wearing power armor. “I could ask you the same thing”.</p><p>            “Proctor Ingram needed spare steel shipments. Thirty-five damaged suits this week, three were total losses and need replacing altogether. Hey, did I hear Mulyer’s suits was one of the total losses?”</p><p>            “Thanks to a very angry Deathclaw,” Danse shuddered. He looked up at Nora, who was sitting away from everyone else, rummaging through her personal effects. Something new in her Pip-Boy was a circuit board which had apparently been scavenged from the robot which had once made him crab-cakes. The woman had been through a lot. Danse figured as long as she was safe where he could see her, it was best to let her have her time alone to come to terms with things. He could see the Minutemen’s newest recruit, Deacon, making his way over to Nora to ask about something. Figuring Nora wasn’t going anywhere, Danse allowed himself to slip into passive conversation with Knight-Captain Ulysses.</p><p>            “We’ll be heading back to the Prydwen tomorrow,” Ulysses chuckled, offering Danse a beer from the package he’d bought at Savoldi’s bar.  “Every now and then it’s good to let the troops off the ship and into the wider world, right? Spending some time in normal civilization is good for morale. I figured we might as well enjoy the night”.</p><p>            Danse declined the beer but allowed himself to take a cigarette from the Knight-Captain. “We’re leaving tomorrow for Fort Independence. Mulyer’s on Minuteman business right now. The Elder has asked I make sure that business goes smoothly”.</p><p>            “Of course, of course,” Ulysses said. “Good move on the Elder’s part, brokering an alliance between the Brotherhood and the Minutemen. Proctor Teagan’s hoping it’ll do good things for the food reserves, though Lancer-Captain Kells mentioned that we probably won’t see anything from it until the Castle’s taken over”.</p><p>            “The Minutemen need to help themselves before they’re at the point of helping us. Still, this’ll be good for them, I hope. They’ve got forty men all gathering up at the Castle to clear out the Mirelurks”.</p><p>            “Best of luck to you. Seems like overkill, though, even without you being there too, Paladin. But then again, I’m on a four-man squad getting steel shipments for the Prydwen”. Ulysses pointed to two scribes counting out steel bars in nearby crates.</p><p>            “Where’s your fourth man?” Danse asked.</p><p>            “Knight Xavier? Indisposed. I <em>told</em> him mole rat on a stick was a bad idea”. As Ulysses laughed, one of the scribes wandered over to the Sergeant.</p><p>            “We’re a bit short, sir. Caravans are apparently bringing in more boxes tomorrow morning. Do we wait?”</p><p>            “We’ll give it ‘til the early morning,” Ulysses said. “I hear the Minutemen make good Caps by dismantling old garbage for parts at one of their settlements. Some old movie theater?”</p><p>            “Starlight Drive-In. Mulyer and I were talking about it on her way here. Apparently, they’re also adding ammunition plants to the mix. We’ve even started sending people from Cambridge to buy supplies”. Danse took a moment to look back up at Mulyer only to notice that she and Deacon were <em>gone</em>.</p><p>            “Oh shi—”</p><p>            “Paladin,” the scribe said. “I saw her head inside her room and close the door. It’s late. She probably needed to sleep”. Indeed, the room Mulyer had been sitting outside of now featured a closed door, and the room was too small to allow for Deacon to accompany her in any way.</p><p>            “Well…suppose that explains that then,” Danse sighed. “I’m not tired myself, though…”</p><p>            “We’re making red-wine fried cram for dinner, Paladin,” the scribe said. “It might help you sleep”.</p><p>            “Why not,” Danse sighed. “I could eat”.</p><p>            While the group from the Brotherhood had Danse come over to their rented shack for the night to enjoy a good meal, Danse tried to do what most people told him he did not enough of and <em>relax</em>. He let himself forget about the Minutemen being undisciplined in the main square of Bunker Hill. He let himself forget that he wanted to knock on Nora’s door and check just to make sure she was still okay. He even let himself forget that it was taking a strange amount of time for the missing Knight from Ulysses’ group to return to his group.</p><p>            Just outside Bunker Hill, Deacon and Nora snuck away from the group under the cover of Stealth Boys. Their return to the Old North Church was swift, with the sole intent of returning Carrington’s prototype to Desdemona. There were no wasted moves or words as the duo told Desdemona of the current state of the Switchboard and their plans to take over the Castle. Nora was allowed by the leader of the Railroad to pick a codename as a Railroad agent, and chose the name <em>Negotiator</em>, which Desdemona found increasingly fitting given Nora’s offer of allowing the Railroad to set up operations alongside the Minutemen. Desdemona had meant to decline until opposition from both Doctor Carrington and PAM had convinced her to at least <em>consider </em>the possibility.</p><p>            “Assessment: Package delivery efficiency estimated to increase by 67% under rogue variable’s proposed network”.</p><p>            “The rogue variable?” Nora asked.</p><p>            “Defining rogue variable: Agent Negotiator”.</p><p>            “She means you,” Deacon smiled. “When you came into the picture, a lot of PAM’s predictive models changed <em>dramatically</em>. You could really do a lot of good for the Railroad, Nora”.</p><p>            “Just watch what exactly it is that you do,” Desdemona said. “Not to put too fine a point on it, but you have the <em>potential </em>for greatness. Whether or not you achieve that greatness is up to you. When you’re all established at your new home and your friends from the Brotherhood aren’t likely to cause issues, send a message of your choosing with the word ‘Mercer’ incorporated into it through the radio. We’ll get in touch with you right after about your Castle <em>and</em> the signal interceptor. PAM’s already got a plan in the works about the latter”.</p><p>            With a satisfying meeting under their belt, Deacon and Nora returned to Bunker Hill, taking the back entrance that led just outside the church and ensuring they weren’t followed. Deacon ensured the Stealth Boys that he’d used to get Nora and himself away from Bunker Hill had enough charge on them to keep both of them under the cover of a modulating refraction field until Nora had snuck back into her hotel room. They had been incredibly lucky that no one seemed to be paying any attention. Preston and the rest of the Minutemen were all getting ready to turn in for the night, and Danse was still having dinner with his compatriots from the Brotherhood.</p><p>            “Not like Paladin Dense to relax,” Deacon whispered.</p><p>            “Let him have his fun. God knows he could use it,” Nora laughed. Neither she nor Deacon knew that Knight-Captain Ulysses had already gotten what he’d wanted by taking Danse’s attention off of Nora for a while. Stealth Boys couldn’t protect against thermal imaging, although thermal imaging was enough of a lost art for Deacon not to take it into consideration when he had snuck off to the church with Nora. Therefore, neither he nor Nora had any idea that the supposedly ‘sick’ Knight Xavier had actually tasked with keeping an eye on Nora from afar, watching as she and Deacon left Bunker Hill under the cover of darkness and Stealth Boys with his thermal goggles, shadowing them as they made their way to the Old North Church. As far as what his team had been told by the top brass, Nora Mulyer had been put to the task of working with the Railroad on Maxson’s own orders. Asking her to work another infiltration mission while she was already gathering information on entering the Institute was a tall order, even for the impressive Knight who’d made waves in such a short wave of time. Therefore, his team had been tasked with scoping out the area around Bunker Hill.</p><p>            “If Knight Mulyer passes by, keep an eye on her, but don’t interrupt her mission. We’ll shadow her covertly and use what we learn from her to deal with the Railroad on a separate timetable”. Knight Xavier couldn’t help but admit that it was a damned good plan. Of course, what more could anyone expect from Elder Maxson?</p><p>#</p><p>            The next morning marked a venture into uncharted territory for the Minutemen as they headed south of established Minuteman territory and into a new frontier. Preston Garvey mentioned with trepidation in his voice that this part of the Commonwealth was much more dangerous than the rest.</p><p>            “Quincy and University Point are in this section of the Commonwealth. We don’t have to worry about Quincy today, but getting to the Castle quickly means passing through University Point”.</p><p>            “That’s the settlement that was wiped out by synths a couple years back,” Deacon lamented. “The Institute putting the worst of itself on display, really…”</p><p>            “It’ll be an excellent reminder of what the enemy is truly capable of,” Danse said.</p><p>            Cutting through the ruins of Boston had its own dangers. There were slews of raider groups and super mutant bands standing between Bunker Hill and University point. The wreckage of fallen skyscrapers and bombed out roads made a straight shot through the ruins impossible. A tactical decision was ultimately made to stick close to the coastline to prevent from getting lost. While this ultimately took the group away from the thickest concentrations of raiders and super mutants, it also led the group right into a well-armed raider group at the Revere Beach subway station. The firefight began in a typical manner, with several Minutemen and lesser raiders exchanging gunfire. Things escalated when several Molotov cocktails were thrown in rapid succession at the Minutemen from the windows of a building near the subway station entrance.</p><p>            “Watch the rear!” Nora yelled. “They might be trying to box us in!” A couple of the Minutemen turned their attention to the rear of the group, searching for any attempt by the raiders to have a surprise attack from behind. No such raider flank arrived to execute such a strategy, but the frontmost Minutemen were horrified to see a raider boss in power armor approach with a missile launcher.</p><p>            “Duck and cover!” A Minuteman by the name of Richard screamed, pulling two other Minutemen down behind a caravan moments before a missile came cruising past them. The raider’s aim had thankfully been a little too high, causing the missile to rush over the heads of all but the tallest in the party and then disappear behind the group, landing on the beach behind them. As the raider took a moment to reload the missile launcher, Danse rushed forward in his own armor and began firing at the raider boss with his laser rifle.</p><p>            <em>Dammit, I wish I had a Gatling laser! </em>He didn’t think such a heavy weapon would be necessary for such an operation, only needing it previously for the Glowing Sea during his days in the Commonwealth. Danse had spent some time tinkering with his laser rifle in the past, adding a little extra <em>punch</em> to the capacitors and putting a cap on the barrel that scattered the laser without compromising much in the way of firepower. The raider boss’s power armor was <em>also </em>heavily modified; enough so that all but the heaviest or most master-crafted of weaponry would barely make a dent. Danse had almost forgotten that one of the Minutemen had brought along a missile launcher of their own.</p><p>            Deacon, however, had not. Taking advantage of Danse’s distraction of the raider boss, Deacon ducked behind the Brotherhood Paladin and aimed one precise shot at the chest of the enemy’s power armor. While the armor spared the raider his life, a satisfying <em>punch</em> could be heard as the front part of the raider’s armor collapsed. Danse <em>grinned</em> and started shooting in that same direction. Once the raider boss had been dispatched, the Minutemen re-grouped to clean up the rest of the raiders in the area before taking a moment to scavenge the beach station for anything useful. There were still several Molotov cocktails, weapons, and ammunition. Deacon even picked up a few pieces of the raider’s power armor.</p><p>            “Think we can do anything with this?” He asked Nora.</p><p>            “It’s <em>very</em> heavily modified,” she responded. “I can’t even tell what kind of power armor it was originally”.</p><p>            “It’s a T-45,” Danse said sagely. “Or at least, it <em>used to be</em>. You can still see a bit of the shell of the head. There are side vents on the mouthpiece like the T-60, but the part around the nose isn’t as streamlined. Looks like they re-did the entire upper half with street sign layers and… <em>is that a</em> <em>television</em>?”</p><p>            “Damn, there’s a raider who missed his calling in construction,” Preston sighed. “Imagine what even half these guys could do if they put down the guns and did some honest work for a change. What a waste”.</p><p>            “Agreed, Garvey,” Danse sighed. “Sadly, some people are far beyond saving. Speaking of beyond saving, when power armor’s <em>that</em> heavily modified, there’s no restoring it after it’s been damaged. We might learn a thing or two about modifications from that set, but it’s better off as scrap metal”.</p><p>            “Dibs on the helmet,” Deacon smiled.</p><p>            With Revere Beach Station behind them, it wasn’t long before the group made it to University Point. Deacon nudged Nora on the shoulder as they approached a giant wall that had once protected the settlement and remained strangely undamaged. A railsign with an “x” in the middle could be seen drawn into a corner of the wall.</p><p>            “Intelligence suggests this settlement is <em>still</em> held by synths after these past couple of years,” Danse said ominously. “Though I haven’t been in the Commonwealth enough to know the entire story behind this place”.</p><p>            “Mass State used to be one of the major players in the Commonwealth,” Deacon explained to Danse. “Without them, we’d have lost the Battle of Charles River. Look at it now”.</p><p>            “Mass State?” Danse said. “This is University Point”.</p><p>            “Alternate name used mostly by the locals”.</p><p>            “I take it you’re from here, Deacon?”</p><p>            “The open road’s the only home I know,” Deacon chuckled. “Though maybe I grew up somewhere at some point. That sounds like a better origin story than ‘faked my death in the Great War and spent my days hunting down miscreants in Boston’.</p><p>            “Wait, isn’t that the Silver Shroud’s backstory with a different war?” Preston chuckled.</p><p>            “If you say so, Deacon,” Danse responded. “The Battle of Charles River, eh? Haven’t heard much about that either”.</p><p>            “That was before any of our times,” Preston elaborated. “The Battle of Charles River was a few decades ago, back when they were still trying to put the CPG together. The town around Fort Hagen used to be a raider stronghold. Their leader was a monster named Brutus Leigh. They tried to take over a marina settlement near Diamond City that doesn’t exist anymore, and the settlement called the Minutemen for help. Because University Point was such a large settlement, they had a lot of Minutemen in the area. They sent <em>dozens</em> of soldiers to Charles River, and Brutus Leigh never bothered anyone again”.</p><p>            “To think such a major settlement was annihilated so quickly, Garvey…”</p><p>            “Did the Minutemen help when University Point was attacked?”</p><p>            “The Minutemen were already on their slow decline, but I wouldn’t say that was the biggest problem yet. I was getting over mole-rat fever when the massacre happened, so I was manning one of the Minutemen radio beacons. There was already a decent-sized patrol group on their way from Quincy to University Point when the distress call came in. The Minutemen got here within a few hours, but everyone was already dead. <em>That’s</em> how fast the Institute wiped out one of the largest settlements in the Commonwealth”.</p><p>            “And no one knows why they did it…” Deacon added.</p><p>            Entering the settlement walls, the group initially stumbled upon what appeared to be a ghost town. In its prime, University Point had once been a major fishing post. The open areas of the settlement were overgrown with razorgrain. Near the foot of the razorgrain field, Nora noticed a fallen Gen 1 synth laying on the ground, covered in dirt and forgotten. A pile of burnt bodies in one corner of the settlement indicated that at some point, the Institute had moved all the bodies from where they’d fallen and set the pile ablaze. As the group made their way from one side of University Point to the other, the fallen synth’s hand suddenly sprung up and grabbed Nora’s ankle.</p><p>            She <em>screamed</em> out of panic at the skeletal robotic hand holding her leg down in the field. Right as Preston turned around and shot the synth in the head, a second laser shot rang out from one of the windows, striking Nora in the back.</p><p>            “Mulyer!” Danse screamed.</p><p>            “Fucking goddammit!” Nora turned around, firing off several rounds from Tommy Whisper’s old gun at the source of where the shot had come from. “Can I go <em>one</em> day out here without worrying about something trying to kill us?!”</p><p>            Thankfully, as with the incident at the Switchboard, Nora’s armored Vault Suit had managed to nullify most of the damage. Nora’s shoulder still <em>stung</em> as she and everyone else in the group fired shots at several Gen 1 synths emerging from the ruined buildings that University Point settlers had once called home.</p><p>            “What the hell are these things still <em>doing</em> here?” Deacon yelled. “You’d think they would have stripped the settlement down for parts back when they murdered everyone here a couple years ago!”</p><p>            “Institute synths only show up for a few reasons,” Preston said. “Salvage retrieval, holding a fortified location, or when the Institute is trying to recover something they want!”</p><p>            Thankfully, there weren’t many synths, and all of them were Gen 1 synths sporting little in the way of armor. The group of Minutemen, Deacon, and Danse managed to wipe through the Institute synths within a few minutes. Once all was said and done, Nora took a moment to examine of the synths that had fallen over a balcony.</p><p>            “This thing is <em>rusted</em>,” she muttered. “Has this been here the whole time?”</p><p>            “The plastic’s scratched and the weapons are poorly maintained. Several of them are out of ammunition. <em>This</em> one is missing an eye, and it doesn’t look like we shot it out” Danse said. “But these couldn’t possibly be escaped synths, could they?”</p><p>            “I’ve never heard of a Gen 1 synth trying to escape the Institute,” Deacon retorted.</p><p>            “Salvaging a settlement can’t take that long, and there’s nothing here to protect,” Preston said. “Whatever it was that the Institute wanted from University Point, I think these guys were <em>still </em>looking for it”.</p><p>            “If this objective was that important, I recommend we investigate,” Danse said.</p><p>            “Me too,” Deacon said, finding it funny that he was agreeing with <em>Danse</em> of all people.</p><p>            “We can’t spend that long on this,” Preston said.</p><p>            “We can’t,” Nora agreed. “…but all these people died for a reason. We might as well see if we can find out why”. Enough Minutemen nodded in agreement for the group to begin rummaging through the settlement.</p><p>            “Leave that ruined building by the dock for last,” Nora advised everyone. “It doesn’t look as solid as the others”.</p><p>            “Hey if we find anything good, I call—”</p><p>            “Dibs,” Danse chuckled, cutting Deacon off.</p><p>            “What? No fair!”</p><p>            “That’s how your game’s rules operate, correct? You got the power armor helmet, civilian. Now it’s my turn”.</p><p>            “Mr. Brotherhood of Steel! You’ve <em>got</em> power armor! Hell, <em>better</em> power armor!”</p><p>            “Yeah,” Danse said playfully, “but maybe I wanted to take apart that helmet…”</p><p>            “Wow, <em>chipper</em> Danse,” Nora grinned. “Maybe we’ll make a proper Minuteman out of you yet”.</p><p>            “He <em>won</em>, Deacon,” Preston laughed. “Though maybe Paladin Danse will be up for a trade if what he finds isn’t as interesting as the T-60 television set”.</p><p>            “Maybe,” Danse affirmed.</p><p>            The group of ten divided up into three groups to check the various houses and buildings around University Point. Nora, Deacon and Danse opted to check the credit union building, Nora on account of having enough bobby pins to crack any safes they found, and Danse on account of not wanting to let Nora disappear on her own. Deacon, meanwhile, admitted to only going to see what he’d just lost to Danse, if anything.</p><p>            “They’ll probably find something more interesting in the other shacks,” Danse said. “These are just old bank vaults full of cash”.</p><p>            “I feel <em>vaguely</em> like a bank robber,” Nora muttered, pulling one of her many bobby pins from a belt around her waist and working on the first safe. It opened quickly, producing several stacks of pre-War money and a golden watch.</p><p>            “Good find,” Danse said as Nora moved on to the second safe.</p><p>            “Hey boss, think <em>I </em>could try that?” Deacon asked.</p><p>            “I don’t see why not. Two people working at this will make it quicker”.</p><p>            “I’d like to see Danse crack a safe too,” Deacon chuckled.</p><p>            “With power armor on? No thanks, Deacon. I’ll watch our backs, instead”.</p><p>            “So boss,” Deacon asked. “You showed me that trick when we were working that one job in Lexington, right? I saw you jiggle the lock with the bobby pin? Or was it the screwdriver?”</p><p>            “No, Deacon, you push down on the lock’s springs with the bobby pin so it works like the key. Then you use the screwdriver to turn the lock. If you’re pushing down on the right spot, the lock will turn, just like if you had a key”.</p><p>            “That’s an inventive solution to breaching a door, soldier. I’ll have to remember that”.</p><p>            “Dammit! I broke the bobby pin!” Deacon groaned.</p><p>            “I broke <em>several</em> the first time I tried,” Nora sighed, “but I <em>really</em> needed to get in that car. Here, Danse, pass him a few more please?”</p><p>            “What happens if the lock won’t move?” Deacon asked.</p><p>            “Move the bobby pin so it pushes a different part of the locks and then try again. Hopefully you get less resistance”.</p><p>            “I guess I got…wait…I got it!” Deacon grinned, opening his first safe to reveal a box full of old paperwork and a box of antique silver jewelry”.</p><p>            “Danse, wanna use your dibs on this?”</p><p>            “I’ll pass, Deacon”. Danse took a moment to inspect the jewelry.</p><p>            “C’mon, I know you’re interested! Maybe there’s a lady soldier somewhere you like?”</p><p>            “Hardly,” Danse shook his head. Nora had already gotten to her fifth safe. “I’m just wondering why something like that is locked up in a financial institution”.</p><p>            “Oh don’t tell me,” Deacon teased. “It’s her!”</p><p>            “Deacon, I <em>doubt</em> Danse thinks that of me”.</p><p>            “I, er, …don’t think it appropriate to pursue personal relationships with subordinates. Or <em>spoken-for</em> women, for that matter”.</p><p>            “Oh yeah, I <em>did</em> see the wedding ring. Never mind, boss,” Deacon said to Mulyer, “just some playful banter, y’know?” For a split second, Danse almost opened his mouth to mention that he’d been referring to Maxson, but a curt glare from Nora quickly advised him that such information was not within the realms of acceptable information for Deacon to know.</p><p>            “Hey, change of subject,” Deacon asked, fidgeting with the second lock while Danse watched. “Mr. Danse here has a good point. Why’s there <em>jewelry</em> in that box? I thought banks were for money”.</p><p>            “What <em>was</em> the point of using a bank as a storage location for currency, anyway? Why would you trust a corporation with your means to purchase goods and services?”</p><p>            “Well, goods and services got exchanged so frequently it got hard to keep track of money. It’s not like you can just stuff all those paper bills under the mattress, right?” Nora explained. For two wholly different men, both Danse and Deacon both seemed thoroughly interested in the history lesson.</p><p>            “I used to have something called a charge card. The bank would physically store the money I earned from a job in their vaults and use it for their own financial investments, but they’d credit the value of that money to my charge card. If I went to a store to buy milk, for example, I didn’t need to worry about carrying all my money everywhere. I just needed the charge card, and enough money credited to it to pay back what I needed. The bank handled transfers of funds. Same thing with when I got paid or when Nate’s checks would come in from the military; they went to the bank, but the bank credited the funds to us in exchange for being able to physically handle the money”.</p><p>            “That sounds <em>confusing</em>,” Deacon said, shaking his head.</p><p>            “Things were different back then. Now, to answer the other question, Deacon. Banks had a lot of physical money lying around, so they had really good security. You’d be <em>hard-pressed</em> to rob a bank rather than an individual person. Banks would make extra money on the side by renting out safety deposit boxes to people who wanted to secure valuables they didn’t need to carry around with them all the time”.</p><p>            “Sounds like an interesting business venture,” Danse mused. Deacon had cracked a second safe and was unlocking a third.</p><p>            “Deacon? What’s with that look?”</p><p>            “What look?” Nora turned to look back at the two men.</p><p>            “Er, boss?” Deacon asked. “Why would someone store a button mounted to the wall?” Without giving it a second thought, Deacon pushed the button. A secret door opened up, revealing a military laboratory with a gun laying on the table.</p><p>            “Is…<em>this</em> what the Institute were after?” Deacon asked.</p><p>            “This just looks like a regular laser pistol. People <em>died </em>over this?” Danse muttered, picking up the gun and aiming at a practice target set up in the laboratory. Much to Danse’s surprise, <em>the gun had kick</em>, with a recoil so strong that Danse could feel it <em>through</em> his power armor”.</p><p>            “Holy shit!” Deacon yelled. “Who the hell were they trying to kill?!”</p><p>            “<em>Wow</em>,” Danse’s face was a rare mix of overjoyed and shocked. He looked at Deacon smugly and muttered, “I’ve changed my mind. You can keep the television. I can’t wait until Teagan gets his hands on <em>this</em>”.</p><p>            “Wha— I don’t even wear power armor!”</p><p>            “So, scavenge up some pieces and learn! I’m sure the Minutemen could benefit from a couple of armored units!”</p><p>            “I think I’ll leave the war machines to the Brotherhood. I prefer saving people…”</p><p>            “What,” Danse scowled, taking exception to that statement. “and I don’t?”</p><p>            “Hey, <em>some</em> of us in the Commonwealth can’t say we buy the whole ‘we come in peace’ racket, y’know? I can’t blame anyone who wants to knock some Institute skulls around, but other than that, the only good I’ve seen done in the Brotherhood that wasn’t self-centered came from a certain <em>female</em> Knight. Starving settlers don’t really get much of your attention. Luckier settlements sell to you at a loss so they don’t worry about ‘accidentally’ getting shot at by Vertibirds later. Hell, in Goodneighbor, they worry you’ll kick the door down one day looking for ‘ferals’.</p><p>            “Where the hell did you pick up this insubordinate civilian, General?” Danse asked Nora.</p><p>            “I—” Nora began before Deacon cut her off.</p><p>            “Don’t bring her into this, big man. I’m just giving you some friendly advice. You act all high and mighty now, but we’ll see where the winds of change take the Brotherhood when they start naming people ‘synths’ and killing people over fear and paranoia”.</p><p>            “You’re underestimating the Brotherhood, Deacon. The more I think about it, the more I think there’s something else transpiring here behind all of our backs. You’re hiding something from me, Deacon, and if I find it and I don’t like it, there will be hell to pay”.</p><p>            “<em>Boys!</em>” Nora yelled at both men loudly enough to get their attention.</p><p>            “We’re on a job,” she said sternly. “I don’t care <em>what</em> your personal politics are. We all have common goals here, retaking the Castle. If you two keep arguing, you’ll just drive a wedge in the troops”.</p><p>            “<em>Ever</em> the peacekeeper,” Deacon mused. “Well, I like you, boss. You’re right. Fighting is <em>so</em> 2077. I suppose we can save this little debate for later, y’know?”</p><p>            “I don’t like to keep these kinds of slights standing,” Danse muttered, “…but I’ll respect <em>your</em> authority here, Knight. Deacon and I can settle this elsewhere, Nora. You just be sure to mind the company you keep”.</p><p>            “Same opinion here, boss. Watch your back”.</p><p>            Danse rolled his eyes as he made his way to the door to put a stop to their argument. Nora could hear him muttering under his breath, “interesting warning for someone who dabbles in manipulation and subterfuge”.</p><p>            <em>The Brotherhood and the Railroad, </em>she thought. <em>How am I ever going to get them to get along?</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0032"><h2>32. Seafood Surprise</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 32: In which the Minutemen storm the Castle.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>SEAFOOD SURPRISE</h1><p>
  <em>“Well it would have been/could’ve been worse than you would ever know/Oh the dashboard melted/but we still had the radio” – Modest Mouse “Dashboard”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            The rest of the trip to the Castle was largely uneventful. Most of the open road travelling south towards Quincy was isolated and empty. Other than using roaming bloatflies for target practice, the travelers were left to their own devices. The dynamic between the group was still largely jovial, although Deacon and Danse now had a noticeable distaste for each other, making every effort to talk to anyone <em>other</em> than each other. At one point, it seemed that both of them were competing for Nora’s attention, but the arrival of a second branch of Minutemen en route to the Castle stopped them both from pestering her.</p><p>            The mission was almost upon them. Nora needed all the time to work with her own Minutemen that she could get. The walls of Fort Independence were visible from their location on the road now. The previous group of Minutemen had spent some effort clearing out the ruins around Fort Independence of hostile raiders. Their scouts reported a super mutant hive in the area as well, although the hive was far enough away to not be an immediate threat.</p><p>            Nora’s group were the last Minutemen to arrive at Fort Independence, having come all the way from the other side of the Commonwealth. Taking shelter in makeshift camps around Fort Independence, the other Minutemen had been waiting no longer than a day.</p><p>            “General!” Several of the troops cheered. “You’re here!” Nora wasn’t used to the attention. With recent events behind her and the work being done to find her son, she hadn’t had as much time for the Minutemen as she liked, and yet here they were accepting her as their leader and supporting her.</p><p>            “You really are one of the good guys, General,” Preston said again. “…and <em>yes</em>, I know you’re not a guy”.</p><p>            “Why me, Garvey?” Nora whispered to Preston.</p><p>            “Huh?”<br/>            “Why me? You’re the one who manages things while I’m away and keeps the caravans and the supply chains running. Why am I the one who gets all the praise and the attention? I don’t deserve it”.</p><p>            “General, I told you, I know what I’m capable of. I can follow orders and make sure that what the Minutemen need done <em>gets</em> done. I can’t inspire people to be something better than themselves, though. I’m also not good at making the hard decisions about how to actually <em>run</em> the Minutemen. Teaming up with the Brotherhood for their superior firepower? Helping the Ra—”</p><p>            Preston remembered Danse was close by, though he could see the Paladin, out of earshot, talking to a newer Minuteman.</p><p>            “The…<em>our mutual friends</em>. Coming up with that plan to help them from here and integrate them in with us? I couldn’t do any of that, General. <em>You</em> are the natural-born leader here. None of what I’ve done would have been possible without you. I think you deserve <em>plenty</em> of recognition”.</p><p>            “General Mulyer,” Nora sighed. “I’m still not used to it”.</p><p>            “Better you than me, I keep telling you”.</p><p>            “The second-highest rank in the Minutemen was <em>Colonel</em>, right?”</p><p>            “Yeah”.</p><p>            “Well, congrats on the promotion, Colonel Garvey”.</p><p>            “W-wha?” Preston seemed genuinely taken aback. “<em>Me</em>?”</p><p>            “Don’t think you can be the undeniable support of the Minuteman General you praise so much and <em>not</em> wind up with a leadership role of your own, Preston. Unless you somehow convince me that the title’s too much for you?” Nora smirked.</p><p>            Preston seemed overjoyed. “No, General. I’ll do everything I can to live up to it”.</p><p>            “I know you will. Now, let’s talk about our plan before we address the troops”. Taking advantage of their relative distance from the rest of the group, Preston first explained to Nora that Mirelurk hierarchy functioned somewhat like what pre-War beehives looked like. The standard Mirelurk was a genderless shellfish that performed drone work for the entire colony: scavenging food, hunting, caring for eggs and other such duties. More specialized drone workers were the Mirelurk hunters, which looked more like lobsters than crabs and were capable of spitting out incredible amounts of acid. In addition, Mirelurk society also boasted a King and a Queen. Kings were rarely found out of water, only coming up during mating season. Queens would come out of the depths to lay eggs and brood; the scouts had deduced that forty years ago, it had been a <em>Queen</em> which had risen from the depths and wiped out the Castle. Most Queens were the size of small houses, and while slow, they could spit acid with more volume and potency than the hunters.</p><p>            Thankfully, the Queen was not present for the invasion. Assuming the Minutemen could completely clear the Castle and rebuild defenses before the Queen returned to lay new eggs, they could meet the beast with enough firepower to prevent it from causing further problems for the Minutemen. A few Mirelurks were actively skittering around within the Castle courtyard. Preston turned the audience over to Nora to allow her to decide how the Minutemen would execute their attack.</p><p>            Not counting Danse or Deacon, there were forty men and women under her command. The Castle boasted two viable entrances: one was far closer to the Minutemen’s reach than the other. There were also two noticeable breaches in the otherwise intact walls: one at the wall where the main entrance was located, and the other further out by one of the shores. Most of the Minutemen were more experienced units who’d either served before the fall of Quincy and then put down their laser muskets until the rise of the new General, or who’d joined up with the Minutemen before the incident at Covenant. To keep some experienced Minutemen at home on patrols for raiders and Minutemen, a little under half of the Minutemen were newer recruits whose records showed more promise: former caravan guards or mercenaries who were new to the blue and white banner flying over the Commonwealth, but who could at least boast some decent experience with a gun. They largely shared the same skill sets: most Minutemen work tended to favor rifles or laser muskets, keeping enemies at some distance. A few could manage with shotguns or pistols and hold their own in a close-range fight.</p><p>            Within an hour, Preston and Nora felt that they’d had a workable plan. Final decisions would have to be made when the ideas were presented to the assembled Minutemen, but it was time to address the troops.</p><p>            “Alright! Ladies and gentlemen!” True to what Preston had boasted, the Minutemen shifted their attention dutifully to Nora. Even outsiders like Deacon and Danse seemed intent on what she had to say. It was at this moment that Nora realized there was no doubting who General Mulyer was any longer. Something deep within her awoke again.</p><p>            “Now, I know each and every one of you here, Minuteman or otherwise, are eager to take the fight to those crabs infesting the Castle”.</p><p>            “Fuck yeah!” Someone yelled. “Let’s kill those sons of bitches!”</p><p>            “<em>However</em>, I also know you’re some of the best the Commonwealth have to offer. I’m not risking your lives on some glorious rush into the Castle just to get overwhelmed. We’re going to do this <em>very</em> carefully. For once, heroics come second today. This isn’t about saving a settlement or an ambushed caravan. This is conquest, and conquest requires strategy”. Preston signaled a few particular Minutemen forward first as Nora continued.</p><p>            “Those of you who are <em>not</em> being called to the front of the line will be the first ones pulling the trigger. You’ll notice that constitutes about two-thirds of our total numbers. I expect you to rain hell down on everything with gills on the Castle grounds. Preston will give the signal once we deem it’s time for the party to start”.</p><p>             “The <em>rest</em> of you will go with me, up close and personal, to draw out the ‘lurks in the courtyard and make the firing line’s job easier. Preston’ll be careful to withhold fire until we’re out of the way. Now, it’s important that we <em>don’t</em> go for too much glory when we draw out the Mirelurks in the courtyard, because we need the firing line to clear them out so we can take the exterior stairs and the upper walls. <em>Don’t </em>get too ambitious in the yard, even if you’re in power armor. Friendly fire is something we’re trying to avoid”. Her eyes flashed on Danse, who smirked at her in response”.</p><p>             “There will probably be more Mirelurks hiding in the tunnels who’ll come crawling out into the open once our front group agitates them. We’ve got a couple of people on the firing lines with missile launchers in case the Mirelurk crowds get <em>really</em> thick. Hopefully we can choke out most of the group before they pass through the gate. When the courtyard is clear, the firing line groups will head into the tunnels and clear out the egg clutches, while my group will head up to the walls and kill anything outside the walls from where we come in, or anything that’s still on the walls themselves. Stick to the plan, and hopefully this’ll be done in time for us to cook up seafood surprise for supper”.</p><p>             There was very little opposition to the plan. A couple of newer Minutemen argued about being relegated to the firing line when they would have preferred to be running into the fray alongside the General. A few Minutemen traded weapons or ammunition in light of their assignments for the operations. Nora expected that others would try and supersede parts of her plan with their own. She was <em>shocked</em> to find that some among the Minutemen didn’t dissuade her from fighting along the front lines. At worst, Danse seemed disdainful of the decision, but kept his feelings on the matter to himself. The firing line assembled dutifully about fifty feet from the outer rim of the main entrance to the Castle’s walls. One line of twelve men and women bent low or laid on the floor with sniper rifles and charged laser muskets. Another line of thirteen, Deacon in the center and Preston to the far right where he could see Nora, stood with rifles at the ready, waiting for the charge. Danse and Nora each divided off two groups of six Minutemen, Danse focusing on the left side of the shattered front wall of the Castle while Nora took the right. Rifles, shotguns, and pistols were at held firmly at the ready by everyone except Nora, who signaled to the frontline group that it was time to move by the visible motion of racking the slide on her new pistol.</p><p><em>             The Deliverer</em>: at least, that was the name that Tommy Whispers had once etched into the gun’s side. Once she’d given her signal, the two groups moved hastily into the front of the courtyard. Shots began to ring as several Mirelurks were struck by laser or ballistic fire. The shellfish that weren’t immediately struck down by stronger guns lurched back before ducking into their shells and hastily making their way over to the invading Minutemen to close the distance. The Deliverer turned out to be an <em>automatic</em> pistol, firing continually as soon as Nora squeezed down on the trigger and splintering a weathered Mirelurk shell with cracks.</p><p>
  <em>            Tinker Tom’s a talented man.</em>
</p><p>            Sure enough, as the closest Mirelurks were dispatched, Nora began to notice more of the hive crawling out from the Castle’s tunnels to overwhelm the frontline forces.</p><p>            “Fall back!” Nora yelled. Most of the Minutemen were happy to oblige, though a few brave souls (including Danse) kept firing or hesitated to move from their positions until the rest of the group had retreated first.</p><p>            “Danse! <em>Fall back!</em> We’re lighting them up!”</p><p>            “I’ll follow! Clear out of here!” He hadn’t been disobeying. His intent was instead to be the last one out of the courtyard on account of the extra protection that his power armor afforded him. A few extra whacks from Mirelurks engaging him would be well-worth the effort and the bruises if it meant getting Nora <em>and </em>the rest of her men out with minimal casualties. Nora felt a wave of fear go through her as one particularly large Mirelurk closed in on Danse and began assaulting him with two massive pincer claws, only to be quickly dispatched by Danse (more <em>annoyed</em> than injured), punting the Mirelurk with a hard kick to the underbelly. As soon as the Mirelurk landed, everyone could see its shell shatter into multiple pieces as a fifty-caliber bullet pierced through its carapace.</p><p>            “<em>Guys</em>!” Deacon yelled. “Tryin’ to aim here!”</p><p>            “You could have <em>shot</em> me!” Danse yelled, moving behind the wall.</p><p>            “Trust me, I wouldn’t have. Could shoot an apple off your head, though…” Deacon retorted back. With the frontline team out of the way, the firing line began letting off volley after volley of long-range shots ring out into the courtyard, pulverizing the rest of the Mirelurks that had made their way to courtyard before the majority could breach the holes in the wall. A few stragglers were picked off at close range by the frontlines, still lurking on the perimeter of the Castle to protect the firing line. Once the Castle courtyard was clear, the entire group advanced unto the Castle grounds.</p><p>            Forty years of abandonment by humans had left the grounds littered with Mirelurk scat and clutches of Mirelurk eggs. The soldiers didn’t need to be told to begin breaking every egg that moved, although a few Mirelurk hatchlings emerged prematurely from their resting places to attempt to defend themselves and their clutches from invaders. Thankfully, the hatchlings had neither carapace nor size to their name; dispatching them was no more difficult than crushing a bug.</p><p>            “Alright! You know your assignments!” Nora said, moving by the large radio beacon that had once served as the Minutemen’s communication hub for the Commonwealth. “Tunnels or walls, let’s go!” With her group in tow, she made her way up the stairs to walls while Preston and Deacon led their groups through the Castle tunnels. Danse had opted to stay in the courtyard in case of any second waves of Mirelurks coming through the gates or the broken wall by the shore. Both spots sported one or two Mirelurks that had chosen to guard individual clutches rather than engage the firing line, but these were quickly disposed of by the Minutemen.</p><p>            “Hey!” A Minuteman cheered once the last clutch was disposed of. “We did it! We actually fucking di—”</p><p>            There was a loud, guttural <em>moan</em> in place of the rest of his sentence, emanating from the shores near the Castle walls. Most of the Minutemen who weren’t already behind the Castle walls turned in shock and fear at what was about to happen. In the courtyard alone, Danse felt his hands instinctively grip his new rifle tighter --- something told him he was about to <em>really</em> need it.</p><p>            The hulking figure emerging from the water soon proved them right, as a much <em>larger</em> version of any Mirelurk anyone had ever seen rose from the surface, shaking the ground around the Castle violently as it approached. Two Minutemen who had been unfortunate enough to be standing near the outer edge of the Castle’s elevated walls lost their footing. The instinctive laser fire that pulsed from Danse’s gun’s overcharged laser capacitors only seemed to be making the creature angrier, and the creature emitted a <em>wave</em> of acid so quickly that Danse had no chance to get away. The Paladin barely managed to curl up into a ball, shielding his unarmored head with the armor around the rest of his body as the acid began eating through his power armor.</p><p>            “<em>MIRELURK QUEEN!</em>” Nora heard herself yell. Somewhere deep within herself she knew something like this would happen. Thankfully the concrete and limestone of the Castle’s walls protected the vast majority of the Minutemen’s forces, who’d been inside clearing the tunnels of any remaining drones. Preston and a few other Minutemen had already found various windows or doorframes to seek cover from while firing at the creature. Large as the Queen was, it could only attack so many places at once. The ones in the most danger among the Minuteman forces now were the ones <em>still outside</em> the defenses.</p><p>            “Down the stairs!” She screamed at the rest of her soldiers, ushering them down the various staircases of Fort Independence. While there was only one workable set of exterior stairs, a few interior alcoves in the upper fortifications led to staircases that led back to Fort Indepedence’s allowed for most of the remaining soldiers to quickly seek shelter and regroup within the walls of Fort Independence. As long as the monster didn’t suddenly decide to directly tackle a section of wall, they would have time to fill the Queen with lead and lasers.</p><p>            There was one problem: Danse was still bent over in a ball on the courtyard ground, not moving. Seeing the Queen turn her attention back to Danse, Nora felt her legs move without thinking. Hurrying towards the guardrails of the exterior stairs, she aimed the Deliverer at the Queen and began shooting at what she could only <em>assume</em> was a face. The entire clip was emptied into a sensitive spot on the tall Mirelurk Queen, and the beast lurched back for a moment before shaking off what were only <em>superficial </em>wounds.</p><p>            “Oh shi—!” A flood of acid suddenly flew through the air. Nora didn’t stop to whether the good fortune of not getting drenched in volatile liquid was due to her quickness in ducking or poor aim on the part of the Queen. Half-hurrying and half-tumbling down the stairs, she rushed over to Danse and found him still conscious.</p><p>            “The <em>fuck</em> are you still doing here?!” She yelled. He couldn’t move.</p><p>            “I think the acid damaged my leg servos! I can’t get back on my feet!”</p><p>            “Then why the <em>hell</em> are you still in this armor?” She could feel the Mirelurk Queen inching closer, getting ready to stomp Danse and Nora into the dirt. Her hands found an outside release on Danse’s T-60 suit and <em>pulled</em>. Realization rushed through Nora’s mind as she noticed that some of the acid had melted through an exposed joint at Danse’s knee, melting portions of the metal frame off of the frame and unto Danse’s legs. The acid had somehow managed to leak into the <em>circuitry</em> on Danse’s armor too, frying any controls he had and essentially trapping him in a steel coffin. Thankfully, the external release was still functional, and Nora grabbed Danse harder than Danse could ever remember being grabbed in his life before almost <em>throwing</em> him in the direction of the nearest tunnel entrance.</p><p>            Still rising to his feet, partially in shock from the thought of dying <em>trapped</em> in the armor meant to protect him and partially unable to properly run from his leg injuries, Danse watched in horror as the Mirelurk Queen closed the distance between itself and Nora. Thoughts of Cutler’s mutilated body flashed through his brain like flickers of static electricity across his spine. Out of the corner of his eyes, he barely noticed someone on the roof of the Castle walls with a missile launcher. The sound of a payload firing out of the missile silo rocketed through the air as the missile exploded across the Mirelurk’s back, getting its attention. Deacon was on one knee near one of the interior stairways of the Castle, hastily trying to reload the missile launcher as the Mirelurk turned its attention over to him.</p><p>            “Woah, woah! Wait! Everyone stop!” Deacon’s sarcasm knew no bounds, even in the face of imminent death. “I’ve got a splinter!”</p><p>            Another missile flew from the opposite direction straight into two of the Mirelurk Queen’s legs, crippling it. Nora turned to notice that Preston had made his way to the opposite side of the Castle’s wall with a second missile launcher. The Mirelurk Queen was now inching toward Preston, slower than it had been moving before. Without thinking, Nora nodded at Preston and rushed for Danse, pushing him into the tunnels the rest of the way before unholstering her own laser musket from her back and cranking the capacitor as fast as she possibly could.</p><p>            “THE LEGS!” She yelled at Deacon, who had just finished loading another missile into his launcher.</p><p>            “R-right!”</p><p>            Nora ran into the tunnel, throwing her laser musket in his hands and yelling at everyone else in the tunnels. “Crank your muskets as far as they go! Aim at the head and <em>hold your fire</em>!” Danse appeared to snap out of his stupor and nodded at her, taking a place at one of the Castle windows and doing exactly as Nora had commanded despite his unfamiliarity with the Minutemen’s most iconic weapon and the excruciating pain in his legs every time he tried to stand. A crack in one of the Castle walls was just large enough for him to lay towards the floor and aim the musket that had been given to him.</p><p>            The General spotted a third missile launcher and two missiles scattered amidst a shelf filled with abandoned weapons from the prior Minutemen who’d once held the location. Grabbing the heavy missile launcher and the missiles without a second thought, she rushed up to the staircase.</p><p>            “Wait! General!” Someone yelled.</p><p>            “Trust me!” She yelled back, hastily making her way to the top of the walls while struggling to load a missile. She emerged from the stairs just in time to see another missile fired from Preston at the Mirelurk’s legs. Despite all the concentrated fire, the Queen was heavily armored. Aiming for the Queen’s abdomen, Nora fired one of her two missiles without hesitation, staggering the Queen.</p><p>            “Again!” She yelled at Deacon and Preston.</p><p>            “I’m <em>out!</em>” Preston yelled.</p><p>            “One left!” Deacon added.</p><p>            “Tunnels! Musket! Crank it! <em>HURRY!</em>” She was frantically reloading her final missile while looking at Preston.</p><p>            “Got i—" A blast from Deacon’s last missile interrupted him as a large chunk of Mirelurk Queen leg separated from the monster’s body. The Queen began to lose balance and topple, spraying a final volley of acid in Deacon’s direction as it crumpled to the floor. <em>This was it.</em></p><p>            “FIRE AT WIL—” She didn’t have to finish. Ever waiting super-charged laser musket shot waiting for the Queen within the Castle’s walls burst from the walls at once, surrounding the Queen Mirelurk in a hail of laser fire. There was a horrifying screech like nothing Nora had ever heard as the lasers burnt through the sea monster’s flesh. A <em>slew</em> of small, undeveloped Mirelurk hatchlings emerged from her corpse, flooding the Castle courtyard and tunnels in one final effort to protect the Mirelurk colony. The battle was already decided: the Minutemen had won.</p><p>            “Ugh!” Deacon shook his head, approaching Nora and tearing at his sleeves to reveal burns from where some of the acid had splashed him. “C-could be worse, boss…”</p><p>The sounds of Minutemen cheering nearly drowned him out completely as he came close. “Got a Stim?”</p><p>#</p><p>            <em>“Hey everyone. Travis ‘Lonely’ Miles here, bringing you the type of news you just don’t hear about every day. The Minutemen are making waves in the Commonwealth, folks, and that’s good news for all of us. The latest word is that they’ve re-taken the Castle, an old hold-out of theirs from back in the day. From everything I’ve heard, it was no small feat to get that back under their control. There are some real monsters out there in the Commonwealth…”</em></p><p>A few of the Minutemen were gathered around the radio laughing about their exploits as Diamond City reported on their latest adventure over the radio. In the two days that had passed since the Mirelurk Queen had fallen, the Castle had already been flooded with new recruits. The surge in manpower had resulted in the Castle’s numbers doubling almost overnight. Preston and Nora had spent most of their first morning in the Castle delegating new settlers and Minutemen to different roles needed within the Castle. Several unskilled workers had been tasked with helping to collect and dispose of Mirelurk corpses. The Queen’s body in particular had to be hacked to pieces, with edible portions being taken into the Castle and integrated into the food supply. There’d be enough <em>seafood surprise</em> to feed the troops for a month between the Mirelurk bodies and the unhatched eggs. Nora found herself touching the compartment of her Pip-Boy, thinking of a certain priceless circuit board and the taste of crab cakes.</p><p>            There was plenty of other work getting done too. The two Minutemen who’d been lost in the campaign to take back the Castle (<em>‘only’</em> two, everyone else told her), were buried outside the Castle with as much honor as could be afforded to them. Fortifications were planned and built. An infirmary was put together in one corner of the Castle’s tunnels, with everyone except Danse being discharged within a day. Thankfully, Danse’s injuries required nothing but superficial surgery, and one of the newer arrivals at the Castle, a Mr. Beltier, was skilled enough with a scalpel to manage the work. Off the shores of the Castle, Deacon spied an abandoned island and privately agreed with Nora that it would be an excellent place to begin work on a particular project for the Railroad.</p><p>            “Lay low here until we get a hold of our mutual friends,” Nora told him.</p><p>            “I’ll find a boat, but otherwise, why not?” Deacon smirked. “Might as well use my paid vacation days, General”.</p><p>            <em>General</em>. Everyone that she dealt with after the taking of the Castle used that term. To see Danse and Deacon begin to use that term more persistently than “Knight” or “Negotiator” was a bit of a shock.</p><p>            The greatest shock came the evening of the 14<sup>th</sup>, after Radio Freedom began broadcasting through the Commonwealth again from the Castle. Nora had run several test broadcasts to and from larger settlements and Outpost Zimonja. The radio beacon had been outfitted with a Morse Code transmitter as part of a plan to begin making broadcasts more difficult to intercept. Once Nora had helped put together new trading routes for caravans travelling through this part of the Commonwealth, she set her sights on University Point and asked Danse to see if Maxson would allow for a civilian settlement on the outskirts of the Boston Airport.</p><p>            “Why <em>there</em>?” He asked her.</p><p>            “If we’re going to be working with the Brotherhood long-term, we need a trade route going in that direction. It’s best to have a settlement at the end of the line, close to the Brotherhood themselves. I was thinking of that place near Fort Strong: Nordhagen Beach. When you’re back on the Prydwen, do you think you could ask Maxson for me?”</p><p>            “I’m sure he’ll consider your idea, General”.</p><p>            Indeed, the Castle soon got a radio transmission from the Prydwen asking for General Mulyer and Preston Garvey to meet the Brotherhood at their home base once Danse was well enough to travel. A Vertibird was sent to their location on the morning of the 15<sup>th</sup>. Scribes helped to load Danse’s damaged power armor on the aircraft as Preston and Danse both boarded.</p><p>            “Operator, one last transmission,” Nora instructed the radio-man before she left.</p><p>            “Yes, General?”</p><p>            “Tell Doctor Mercer to report to the Castle as soon as possible”.</p><p>            The radio-man had never heard of Doctor Mercer before, but complied without question.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0033"><h2>33. Paved With Good Intentions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 33: In which Nora prepares for an emotional reunion.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS</h1><p>
  <em>“These things make me want to duck for cover/With all these things I wait for revolution/These things ask the biggest question for me/And it’s are you what you want to be?” – Foster the People “Are You What You Want To Be”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            Preston had never been on a Vertibird before. The shakiness of the craft and the foreign sensation of being away from terra firma did strange things to the Colonel’s stomach. He could feel what he was sure were his intestines tangling themselves in knots; his diaphragm felt like it wanted to dislodge itself from his body and worm its way up to his throat along with his past three meals. Thankfully, the trip to the Prydwen from the Castle via aircraft was less than fifteen minutes. This was more efficient than a boat trip, which would have been within an hour, or a trip by foot, which would have taken half a day on account of there being no direct route to the airport by land. At the worst of the airplane ride, the craft rose into the air to meet with one of the docking mechanisms on the ship. Nora had the good sense to grab Preston’s hand and coax him to grab a solid object near his seat for stability, moments before the aircraft became attached to the Prydwen’s exterior. Lancer-Captain Kells was waiting for the group on the flight deck, along with a Knight, two deck scribes and two medical scribes who were in charge of helping Danse to the infirmary and taking his power armor to Proctor Ingram.</p><p>            The Captain welcomed Nora back to the Prydwen before looking at Preston.</p><p>            “Knight, is this your second-in-command with the Commonwealth Minutemen?”</p><p>            “<em>Colonel Preston Garvey</em>,” Nora said politely but coolly, wanting to see to it that Preston was afforded the respect he was due. Thankfully, even with his icy demeanor, Kells seemed willing to oblige.</p><p>            “It’s a pleasure,” Kells gave Preston a quick nod. “I’ve heard good things about you”.</p><p>            “Not to be rude, but I haven’t heard much about you,” Preston remarked.</p><p>            “Well, I’d <em>hope</em> not,” Kells smirked. “Until now, you’ve never had reason to come to the Boston Airport or board a Vertibird. The only <em>other</em> reason I would have personally made myself known before now is if you were a threat”.</p><p>            “Understood,” Preston said warily.</p><p>            “Now, some ground rules. I don’t expect our meeting together to last long, although there’s going to be a portion of time where Elder Maxson will want to speak to you <em>alone</em>, Knight. During that time you assume responsibility for anything your Colonel happens to do on this ship; in the meanwhile, Colonel, under normal circumstances you’d be relegated to a holding area on the ground for security reasons. Given your officer status with the Minutemen and our vested interest in the Commonwealth Minutemen, we’re allowing you clearance to the residential areas of the Prydwen for the duration of time in which your presence isn’t necessary. The infirmary, the library, the enlisted workshops, <em>limited</em> quartermaster access, and of course, the mess hall. If for some reason the General’s audience with the Elder lasts longer than expected, we’ll fly you back to the Castle <em>or</em>, if you’d prefer, we’ll afford you a bunk in the men’s barracks”.</p><p>            “I’ll try and keep it strictly professional,” Preston said curtly. Lancer-Captain Kells gestured to the Command Deck door.</p><p>            “Let’s get straight to it then. Follow me”. The Lancer-Captain led Nora and Preston up the stairs to the Prydwen’s interior, and then from there to the main address hall where Elder Maxson usually chose to hold public addresses. A table had been neatly assembled in the middle of the room. Maxson quickly allowed for introductions between himself and Preston before coaxing Nora and Preston to sit on one side of the table. Once Maxson and Kells had also gotten situated, the first meeting between the Minutemen and the Brotherhood on equal terms began. Maxson was the first to make conversation.</p><p>            “Now that you’ve taken the Castle, you’re in a good position to assume civil control over the Commonwealth. From what I understand, you’ve already taken the first steps at asserting this level of control over the populace”.</p><p>            “We’ve started re-organizing trade caravans to better accommodate the Castle,” Nora responded. “I had asked Danse to communicate this to you, but since I got to you first, you should know this includes establishing settlements in the southern part of the Commonwealth. We had to pass through University Point and clear the synths holding the location to get to the Castle. Preston and I are preparing to send a detachment back that way to restore that settlement to working order. When University Point is finished, I’m planning on taking control of other settlements in the area around the Prydwen like Nordhagen Beach”.</p><p>            “Sounds like you want something from me,” Maxson crossed his arms.</p><p>            “I want one settlement as close as I can get it to the Prydwen as an exchange point between the Minutemen and the Brotherhood. Nordhagen would be acceptable but the outskirts of the airport would be even better”.</p><p>            “We can’t risk our operational security, Knight”.</p><p>            “The Elder’s right,” Kells added. “You can’t possibly suggest allowing civilians to start living on a Brotherhood base”.</p><p>            “I’m not saying <em>on</em> a Brotherhood base. I’m saying <em>near</em> a Brotherhood base. Next door neighbors rather than housemates, so to speak. <em>Besides</em>, I was thinking of constructing another armaments factory in the south since the one up north is doing so well. I might concentrate weapons and armor production closer to the Castle while letting the Starlight factories concentrate on salvage work: extracting steel and aluminum from all the junk laying around the Commonwealth two-hundred years after the nuclear bombs”.</p><p>            She grinned at Maxson. “Maybe even industrial-scale production of things like cutting fluid, vegetable starch…and <em>coolant</em>? I hear that’s worth its weight in gold around here”. Kells’ eyes lit up with a bit of envy at the idea of industrial coolant production; it took gallons of the stuff to keep the Prydwen moored above the airport as it was now, hitched to the only stable control tower.</p><p>            “That’s a <em>tall</em> order, Knight,” Maxson said. “Antifreeze gets rarer and rarer as scavengers use up remaining pre-War bottles”.</p><p>            “Proctor Ingram was telling me that antifreeze can be <em>made</em> from more common ingredients. Things we can make, even”. Her eyes flashed between Preston and Maxson. “We usually eat lunch around the same time”.</p><p>            Preston chuckled a little as Nora continued, “anyway I don’t understand the exact science behind it, but it had something to do with ‘hydrogenating’ ethyl-something or other from some chemical that could be made from some other chemical that can in turn be found from plants like Hubflower. I’ll let scribes and Minutemen with larger brains than mine sort out the chemistry, but if we can basically <em>grow</em> ingredients for antifreeze…”</p><p>            “And the Minutemen can assist in figuring out the chemistry and engineering behind such complex industrialization?” Kells said, scoffing a little.</p><p>            “I can’t think of a more capable engineer than Sturges,” Preston smiled.</p><p>            “And I’m not the only person in this room with a capable executive officer evaluating my soldiers,” Nora chuckled, politely putting Kells in his place while eliciting a slight smirk from Maxson.</p><p>            “I’ll think about. <em>Maybe</em> if you impress me enough, we’ll talk about that field full of ruined airplanes,” Maxson decided. “In the meantime, before I progress to what I <em>really</em> wanted to talk about, was there any other Minuteman business you needed to discuss first?”</p><p>            “General, you mind if I bring something up?” Preston asked. “I didn’t have time to make a mention of this earlier”.</p><p>            “What’s the matter, Preston?”</p><p>            “One of the newest settlements we’ve enlisted is a place called the Slog”.</p><p>            “The tarberry farm, Preston? What about it?”</p><p>            “They aren’t really bothering anyone and they don’t ask much of us --- except we did get a report about some Brotherhood Knights who passed by a while ago and shook the place down for half their harvest”.</p><p>            “That’s a <em>fascinating</em> accusation,” Kells said coldly, narrowing his eyes. “One I don’t take kindly to”. Maxson said nothing, merely looking at Nora with a raised eyebrow.</p><p>            “Preston wouldn’t make mention of it if it weren’t serious,” Nora defended him, although she looked back at Preston with a questioning look. “Although other than one other incident with the Brotherhood --- nothing as serious as this --- I haven’t heard of any issues with the Brotherhood on our settlements. Especially considering you forgot to make mention of this until now, Preston, you’d better be sure this isn’t a misunderstanding”.</p><p>            “Trust me, it’s no misunderstanding. I’m pretty sure I know why the Slog had such trouble with the Brotherhood”.</p><p>            “Why’s that?” Maxson asked, intrigued. “And what’s this <em>other</em> issue?”</p><p>            “The Slog is our only settlement run by ghouls,” Preston said. Kells seemed to grit his teeth a little while Maxson’s eyes merely widened a bit in surprise.</p><p>            “This was a <em>ghoul</em> settlement,” Maxson nodded. “I see…”</p><p>            Nora could also see where Preston was going with this, sighing before looking directly at Maxson. “About that: the incident <em>I</em> saw involved a ghoul worker of mine as well at Starlight. Our inventory foreman at Starlight is a man I knew from before the bombs dropped. He was the most qualified individual for the job, Maxson, but it seems the Brotherhood won’t go anywhere near him when they want to do business”.</p><p>            “Did they harm him?” Maxson said.</p><p>            “I can’t say it went that far,” Nora replied.</p><p>            “Then we have nothing to discuss about your foreman. However—"</p><p>            “He’s one of my men, Arthur!”</p><p>            “—<em>let me finish</em>. I’m not going to make my men compromise their beliefs and pretend to be friends with something they aren’t. You’re letting a centuries-old friendship cloud your judgment on that matter, and while I’ll pardon you for paying respect to someone who was a friend of yours before the Great War, <em>we</em> are not obligated to do the same. <em>With that being said, </em>I can’t abide an allegation of theft by the Brotherhood towards a Minuteman settlement in consideration of our alliance”.</p><p>            “<em>Any</em> Minuteman settlement,” Maxson said sternly, slipping in a slight side-glance to Lancer-Captain Kells. “Letting sentient ghouls roam will just cause their behavior to become more unpredictable. At least in a confined settlement, they’re no threat to anyone. The Minutemen have full right to manage their settlements as they see fit, and the Brotherhood have already agreed to abide their autonomy as long as the Minutemen remain agreeable to the Brotherhood. I won’t wantonly accuse my men of misconduct on your word alone, but <em>if</em> there is evidence, it will be investigated. <em>Is</em> there evidence?”</p><p>            “The Slog has working cameras going to a security terminal,” Preston sighed.</p><p>            “If you have <em>footage</em> of this event, we’ll re-address it, Colonel. Otherwise, we’re at an impasse. We should move this discussion along. Now that you’ve taken the Castle, you’re also in a good position to build the Signal Interceptor. Have you made any headway on that?”</p><p>            “I’ve got a scout looking into a good spot nearby”.</p><p>            “And that is?”</p><p>            “…to be determined,” Nora said cryptically. “Don’t worry. He’s done wonders with worse”.</p><p>            “How long do you think he’ll be?”</p><p>            “If it takes him longer than tomorrow night, I’ll be shocked”.</p><p>            “So we’ll send you back with some building supplies,” Maxson said. “I took the liberty of having Proctor Quinlan and Proctor Ingram make some copies of the plans that you got from Virgil while you were hospitalized. They’ve put together a list of specialized components that you’ll need. Quinlan managed to go through his library and find records of where such items may still be if you’ll need to send out scavenging plans, although he’s confident that your network of caravans may well be able to <em>buy</em> the items we don’t yet have. What you’ll need plenty of that the Brotherhood <em>does</em> have is scrap metal. Steel, aluminum, copper; we’ve got stores of it all. Say the word and it’ll be boxed up by Knight-Sergeant Gavil and his team and put on the next Vertibird leaving the Prydwen”.</p><p>            “Awful generous of you,” Preston mused.</p><p>            “Well,” Maxson said curtly back to Preston, “I’m very generous to people I like”. Both of them seemed to know that they were at odds with each other over <em>something</em>, and yet neither of them understood exactly what that something was. Even though they were both smiling at each other, the cold stares between each other could have frozen the entire room solid. Nora felt herself <em>gulp</em> audibly. Maxson’s eyes flashed upon her as his smile became a bit wider.</p><p>            “Something wrong with your throat, Knight? Should I get some water?”</p><p>            “N-no,” she blushed, looking away. Thinking of water and Maxson shifted her brain to more <em>uncomfortable </em>memories. Preston cocked an eyebrow at her incredulously but said nothing.</p><p>            “Well, if it’s alright with you,” Maxson said, “I’d like to send over the Vertibird and run the medical test. Knight, I’d like a word with you alone afterwards. Colonel, once the medical test is done, you’re free to leave. I’ll be right back with Cade and Danse, if Danse is up to participating”.</p><p>            “Medical test?” Preston said. Maxson didn’t comment, leaving the room for a moment. It was the Lancer-Captain who elaborated politely, pointing at Nora.</p><p>            “In a matter of mere days, she’ll be in the Institute. I’m sure she’s told you”.</p><p>            “To re-unite with her son; of course she told me”.</p><p>            “Good. I’m sure you understand the Institute are dangerous. It’s likely the most dangerous mission we’ve ever asked anyone to undertake. I could stack the reasons into a mountain taller than the air traffic tower underneath us, but one of the chief concerns is that when you return, Knight, you won’t be you”.</p><p>            Preston gulped. “…you think they might replace her with one of those people-snatchers”.</p><p>            “Knight, I have no doubt that you can handle yourself,” Kells elaborated, “but we wouldn’t want to shoot you due to a case of mistaken identity. We can’t risk the possibility of infiltration, though. Overlooking all of the intelligence we’ve gotten from across the Commonwealth on synth infiltrators from the Institute, we’ve noticed a key psychological flaw with the Institute’s copies of people. They don’t always get the personality and the memories exactly right”.</p><p>            “How do you know that?” Preston said.</p><p>            “You think the Brotherhood don’t have reconnaissance in the Commonwealth? You think Knight Mulyer’s the only one who can convince people to divulge sensitive information or tell us something they wouldn’t tell us without persuasion? There have been a couple reports of synths being found out by the Institute for impersonating someone they couldn’t quite act like; the general memories all seem to be intact, but subtle details don’t match up. Given that our common enemy can make identical copies of people down to the cellular level, we can’t rely on appearances. Knight-Captain Cade has devised a medical test that’ll involve subtle, insignificant memories the Institute probably doesn’t have the means to catch when they interrogate or otherwise extract psychological information from their targets. Since this test needs to involve people who work closely with Knight Mulyer on a regular basis and know how she’d answer questions or behave in specific situations, you were called to the Prydwen as well”.</p><p>            Kells explained the details to Preston as Maxson made his way back to the Command Deck with Cade and Danse, the latter of whom was still limping a bit.</p><p>            “You okay, Paladin?” Preston asked concernedly. “We could have gone to see you”.</p><p>            “I’m fine. Probably won’t be <em>running</em> for a couple of days, but I can manage a slow walk. Besides, I’m too restless to sit still in the medical bay longer than I have to”.</p><p>            “It’s my biggest complaint about him,” Cade joked, amusing Preston a bit. “I apologize to the Castle’s resident surgeon if he was a pain in the rear. Doctor Beltier and I may have to compare notes sometime; the man’s surgical technique is impressive”.</p><p>            “Would you believe he was a recent addition?” Nora laughed, as Kells left the room.</p><p>            “Strange how that works,” Cade smiled. “Now, I’ll just be recording your responses. We’re going to do a couple of simple psychological tests. Have you draw a card out of a deck and show us and then <em>not tell anyone else</em> about it, for example? Maybe also have you describe something that looks insignificant to anyone else, but that has special meaning to you. I doubt the Institute’s eyes and ears get up the Prydwen and it’s too small of a memory for them to try and interrogate from you, I imagine. Since these three men also appear to be your closest associates, I’m also going to ask each of them to name a specific memory that they have of you. Gentlemen, some ground rules. Rule one: nothing too profound. Strong memories of emotional significance seem to have a higher chance of making it into a synth infiltrator, so if you have any ‘saved each other’s lives’ stories or anything romantic, leave it out”.</p><p>Danse cocked an eyebrow at the fact that both Maxson <em>and </em>Preston seemed to be blushing a bit. Unbeknownst to him and Nora, they were both crossing out their stories of kissing Nora from their stories of choosing.</p><p>“Rule two,” Cade continued, “pick nothing that happened with a large group of people. The more people involved, the more likely the Institute was there. Other than that, you pick something of meaning to you involving Nora, and she shares her reactions and reasoning on the matter. I’m going to record everything you tell us, General, and expect accurate answers from you when you get back from the Institute”.</p><p>Cade <em>also</em> noticed that Preston and Maxson were still thinking and turned his attention to Danse. “Why don’t <em>you</em> start, Paladin?”</p><p>            Danse thought for a moment before remarking: “…Deacon and I got a memorable history lesson from you after University Point”.</p><p>            “Are we sure Deacon can be trusted?” Cade interrupted.</p><p>            “Whatever Deacon is --- and I say this as someone whose opinion of Deacon could be higher --- I highly doubt he’s an Institute variable”.</p><p>            “Very well, Paladin. Proceed”.</p><p>            “Anyway. You gave us a history lesson”.</p><p>            “I did,” Nora nodded. “What about it”.</p><p>            “You tell me, General. What did you teach us?”</p><p>            “You both asked about how pre-War banks operated. I told you about banks and safety deposit boxes after you were questioning why silver jewelry was in one of the safes we were breaking into”.</p><p>            “And then what happened?” Danse continued.</p><p>            “You both got into an argument. I don’t remember who started it”.</p><p>            “That’s a good answer,” Cade chuckled, writing on his notepad. “A synth infiltrator will likely just go ahead and try and change the story one way or the other…”</p><p>            “You finished it,” Danse chuckled. “Scolded us both for arguing amongst ourselves, rightfully so”.</p><p>            “I couldn’t let your political differences lower morale in the rest of the troops”.</p><p>            “Yeah,” Danse said softly. “Sorry”.</p><p>            “Excellent first example, Paladin. I’ve got plenty to work with already. Who’d like to go next?”</p><p>            “I guess I’ll go,” Preston quickly said. “I…uh…well. Man, something <em>not</em> too emotional and <em>not</em> involving a lot of people. Shit, I don’t have a lot that doesn’t fall into one of those two categories…oh! I know. Remember MacCready?”</p><p>            “Yep”.</p><p>            “How’d you get him to join the Minutemen?”</p><p>            “He paid two-hundred and fifty Caps per mercenary job. I gave him three-fifty on the condition that he do anything I want him to do. He was very surprised to learn it was to serve a month with the Minutemen. He sure did like that Fat Man, though”.</p><p>            “This MacCready,” Cade asked, “what became of him?”</p><p>            “He left the Commonwealth for the Capital Wasteland. He’s from there. His son was sick”.</p><p>“It’s safe to say the Institute doesn’t have much business with the Capital Wasteland, so he’s probably not a synth. Any details about his son?”</p><p>“His son is seven. His name is Duncan. We went to Med-Tek Research to get the cure for some disease that Duncan had caught out in a field. It involves blue boils?”</p><p>“I’ve heard of that,” Cade shuddered. “<em>Definitely</em> Capital Wasteland. Good information for the books, thanks”.</p><p>Everyone’s eyes fixated on Elder Maxson, who looked sheepishly at the cabinet of alcohol that he kept locked on the Command Deck.</p><p>“What do I like to drink to get back to sleep, Knight? You probably remember how tired I was when you’d come back from cracking the Courser data”</p><p>“Bourbon on the rocks, Elder”.</p><p>            “That’s all we need, Cade. There’s no way the Institute was watching <em>that</em>”.</p><p>            “Nothing else to add to your shared memories, Elder? Knight? I thought you two were pretty amica—”</p><p>            “No, that’s all,” Elder Maxson said curtly.</p><p>            “Nothing else happened,” Nora said, biting her lip.</p><p>“Didn’t you two have lunch together once alone? Surely you must have had a passive conversation about something droll. Vertibirds? Past acquaintances? Preferences for steamed or fried mole rat?” Cade asked. Preston and Danse both looked at each other with awkward looks across their faces.</p><p>“Danse, those two have a history with each other or something?” Preston whispered.</p><p>“I…I have absolutely no idea anymore, Garvey”. Danse muttered.</p><p>Both men suddenly looked at Nora and Arthur Maxson in terror as they realized that they’d been noticed gossiping.</p><p>            “I think we’ve established what we need to know,” Nora scowled.</p><p>“Indeed,” Maxson sighed. “I think we’re done here. Knight? A moment alone please?”</p><p>#</p><p>            “Knight,” Arthur Maxson had pulled Nora aside for one question in particular.</p><p>            It was going to be difficult to ask, but he’d been considering a very important question from the moment that Nora had begun work on taking the Castle and working on the Signal Interceptor. Seeing her again and admiring how far she’d come from the day she first stepped aboard the Prydwen, he knew there wouldn’t be an opportunity to discuss the topic on his mind again. He’d brought her up to his quarters for some privacy, glancing at the drawer of his office desk with a bit of anxiety. His left hand slipped into his pocket, searching for a key he’d been keeping handy for this moment.</p><p>            He steeled himself. There was no time for any nervous little boy still dwelling in the back of his mind. No matter how much sense it made to try and romanticize this moment --- charming her had worked before --- it didn’t seem appropriate. What he needed to ask Nora now was for everyone’s benefit: but it would also require her to be entirely selfless.</p><p>            “With all due respect, Elder. I’m not much for conversation”.</p><p>            She looked at him with worry. He seemed uncharacteristically nervous.</p><p>            “Er…Elder. You okay?”<br/>            “I’m fine, Knight”. He wasn’t. His throat was unusually dry and his palms were sweating a bit. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d reacted this way to <em>anything</em>.</p><p>            “Alright, if you’re fine, then let’s talk”. Elder Maxson responded to Nora by pointing to her left hand.</p><p>            “I’ve been meaning to ask you about that”.</p><p>            Nora looked down at her hand in worry. “Ask me about what? My arm? I don’t have any injuries”.</p><p>            “No, what you’re <em>wearing</em>”.</p><p>            She held up her arm. “My ring or my Pip-Boy?”</p><p>            “The Pip-Boy”. He composed himself; this was a matter of safety for his troops <em>and hers</em>. “Specifically, what’s <em>on</em> that Pip-Boy. You have sensitive information on that Pip-Boy from the Brotherhood, and probably the Minutemen, that I can’t allow you to take with you to the Institute. If they decide to replace you, it could put <em>everyone</em> in jeopardy”.</p><p>            Her prized possessions were in that accessory of hers. Knowing he was asking for something <em>very</em> precious, he walked over to her slowly and gently took her arm.</p><p>            “It would be best if you left this here”.</p><p>            “Are you nuts? What if something happens to it?”</p><p>            “Nothing will,” Maxson assured her, taking his desk drawer key out of his pocket. “I promise. I just need Proctor Quinlan to scan the data and wipe the drive before you head to the Institute. I could have someone deliver it back to you tomorrow, free of compromising information”.</p><p>“My husband’s photo and holo-tape are in there. Hell, Codsworth’s last circuits are in there”.</p><p>            Maxson gulped. “Indeed. <em>About that: </em>Nora, listen to me: I know you’re still <em>attached</em> to them. I’m not going to blame you for any of those attachments. Avenging them has been your entire reason for all you’ve done; everything after you left the Vault was for your family. <em>I understand that</em>”.</p><p>            His hands tightened on the Pip-Boy. “…but your son isn’t in that compartment. Your son is in the Institute, and your son is alive. The Institute getting a hold of your personal possessions is just more room for them to psychologically compromise you”.</p><p>            She scoffed at him. “Like they haven’t <em>already</em> ‘psychologically compromised’ me? You have no idea what losing my family has done: last time you touched my Pip-Boy I thought I was going to jump off of that hospital bed, IV still in my arm, and strangle you half to death”.</p><p>            “Strangle me half to death, for some priceless memories?” He chuckled. There was a bit of sadness in his voice. “<em>I’m almost jealous of him</em>. Sadly, Nora, it doesn’t change a thing”. She felt tears begin to well up in her eyes at the prospect of separating from what little she had of Nate, even for a moment. She felt <em>worse</em> realizing Maxson was absolutely right. Letting go of Nate to find Shaun would be soul-crushing, but it would be understood. Letting go of Nate to save the Commonwealth from the possibility of a corrupted Institute puppet wearing her face was even more understandable. Somewhere in her grief-addled mind, she could hear Nate whispering to her.</p><p>            <em>Give him what he’s asking for. The Minutemen, the Brotherhood, the Railroad: I’m not worth these people’s lives.</em></p><p>            <em>You <strong>are </strong>worth these people. You, Shaun and Codsworth are worth <strong>everything</strong></em>. Her own voice was fighting him. She’d always won all of their arguments in their married life --- except this one.</p><p>            <em>No, Nora. Codsworth and I are not.</em></p><p>
  <em>            Why?!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>            Because we don’t exist anymore.</em>
</p><p>Maxson’s other hand tightening around her own snapped her back into reality. She was outright <em>sobbing</em> now, embarrassed and ashamed of the battle she was fighting within herself. She half-expected some sort of condemnation and got the surprise of a lifetime when Arthur merely pulled her into a soft hug, trying his best to be comforting.</p><p>            “You realize if that anything on my arm is even one hair out of place <em>when</em> I get back, I’m going to strangle you for real, right Maxson?” Her words were treasonous: if they hadn’t been in his quarters, she could have been fired upon by the Brotherhood on the spot. Still, Maxson marveled at the fact that she hadn’t yanked her prized possession away from him yet. He was expecting a slap across the face.</p><p>            “It’ll all be here when you get back,” he said firmly. Instinctively, he felt himself pull her just a bit closer; he also felt something physical that he <em>wasn’t</em> doing. For any other person, he wouldn’t have taken the chance of <em>asking </em>them to remove such sensitive information from their wrist. If it weren’t Nora Mulyer in front of him, he’d have shunned the possibility of pleading her to see reason and just ripped the Pip-Boy off of her wrist. This level of weakness would normally have been unacceptable in her. And in him.</p><p>            “If…if I don’t come back,” Nora gulped, “…and you attack the Institute and you find Shaun…”</p><p>“Don’t talk like that,” Maxson muttered, before adding, “…you already know my answer”.</p><p>She stared back up at him, wiping the tears off of her face with hand as Maxson continued to hold her in the other. “It <em>is</em> going to be interesting to meet Shaun,” he smiled. Suddenly he found himself facing the prospect of becoming a father much sooner than he’d expected, in a very different way than what he’d envisioned. This was something he <em>dared</em> not discuss with Nora; the poor woman had enough emotional baggage to deal with, including all that was involved between them. Furthermore, the stalwart conservatives among the Brotherhood High-Elders seemed less than pleased with the prospect of a future Lady Maxson dedicating energy on any child who didn’t bear the Maxson name.</p><p>It said something about <em>him</em>, though, that he didn’t mind the thought. It said something about <em>both of them</em> that they suddenly found themselves kissing each other again. The last time Maxson had kissed her, he did it partially for manipulative purposes and had been pleasantly surprised that she hadn’t responded with violence. This time, it was impossible for either of them to say who started it or <em>why</em> they had wound up in this predicament. In her case, it was almost certainly emotional instability. He started to wonder if his reasons weren’t far off from being the same as he found himself pushing her back unto his kitchen table and collapsing himself over her. Involuntarily, he found himself helping her to pull him out of his overcoat. She could feel his muscles tightening around her Vault Suit; he could feel, through their thin clothes, the effect this incident was having on both of them.</p><p>He stopped himself, staring at his own reflection in her eyes and wondering what had come over him. Nora gazed at him for a moment with foggy, tear-stained eyes before her own senses pushed her back to reality.</p><p>“I…wha?”</p><p>“That was my fault,” he muttered, somewhat unsure of the truth. He inched himself away from her and picked his coat up from off of the floor.</p><p>“It was mine,” she responded, trying to justify her actions to him (and herself). “I was overwhelmed. Emotional. I was thinking of Nate”.</p><p><em>Ouch</em>, Maxson told himself. He brushed off the implications of that last statement before motioning for her to hand him her Pip-Boy.</p><p>#</p><p>            Shortly after her rendezvous with Maxson, Nora returned home to the Castle devoid of her Pip-Boy. Preston took the time to pull her aside, moving her to the General’s quarters, and ask her about the incident at the Prydwen.</p><p>            “Not to pry, General,” he asked, “but what was with you and the leader of the Brotherhood?”</p><p>            “It’s <em>complicated</em>,” Nora sighed.</p><p>            “Complicated how?”</p><p>            “I don’t like to talk about it”.</p><p>            “Do you <em>like</em> him or something? I thought you’d just lost your husband”.</p><p>            “I <em>did</em> just lose my husband, Preston”.</p><p>            “So why’s it so complicated?”</p><p>            “Preston, has anyone ever told you this isn’t your business?”</p><p>            He stopped himself. “…sorry, General, I’m not <em>trying</em> to pry. I’m just…<em>concerned </em>for you. I guess you could say I think you might deserve better”.</p><p>            “Maybe we all deserve better,” Nora scoffed knowingly. “I don’t think you’ve realized that better isn’t here”.</p><p>            <em>Ouch</em>. Preston told himself.</p><p>            “I don’t mean <em>you</em>, Preston”. Her last statement caught him off guard. He could feel his neck jerk around as he turned back around to stare at her incredulously.</p><p>            “Wha?”</p><p>            “Preston, I’m not an idiot. I’ve <em>seen </em>the way you look at me. Maybe we should talk about that before I go”.</p><p>            “Before you go?”</p><p>            “I’m going to the Institute, remember?”</p><p>            “For Shaun, right. Sorry, General”.</p><p>            “Don’t be <em>sorry</em> Preston, just --- try to understand. I’ve only ever wanted one person in my life and the Institute took him away forever. I can’t love anyone else like that ever again; not any of the other flirtatious men I’ve met along the way, not Elder Maxson, and not even you. Not like Nate. Maybe I’m just being selfish and maybe you deserve better, but better isn’t here, Preston. Better isn’t me”.</p><p>            Preston thought about her words for a moment.</p><p>            “And Maxson? Does he deserve better too?”</p><p>            “He’s not the greatest guy I’ve ever met, Preston. <em>Charming</em>, sure. Whether or not he deserves better is yet to be determined, but he’s not asking for better. What he wants is surprisingly mundane”.</p><p>            “What, a good time? The Brotherhood never struck me as hedonists”.</p><p>            “No, Preston. He wants <em>power</em>”.</p><p>            “Power?” A grim realization washed over Preston’s face.</p><p>            “Wait, you mean he wants to take over the Commonwealth? <em>Through you?</em>”</p><p>            “That was the initial idea that he and his superiors had, yes”. Nora said darkly. “It took a little verbal maneuvering, but I’ve managed to convince them to let the Minutemen run the show. Sweetening the deal by taking advantage of Elder Maxson’s more…<em>naïve</em> perceptions of me seemed to help; now he thinks this was all <em>his</em> idea”.</p><p>            “Typical Brotherhood. They never could leave well-enough alone”. Preston spat.</p><p>            “No, they couldn’t, but they have an army and airships at their disposal. Even <em>if </em>we somehow chased them out of the Commonwealth with laser muskets and pitchforks, they have <em>reinforcements </em>in Washington D.C that could fly here within a day and blow the Castle to smithereens. <em>Or</em> they could be convinced to put their firepower to better use. Is making the choie between those two options really worth any <em>personal</em> concessions I have to make?”</p><p>            “But don’t you think <em>you</em> deserve better, Nora?”</p><p>            “The <em>world</em> deserves better, Preston. My son deserves better. If it means making a world in the Commonwealth where the Brotherhood tear up super-mutant hives instead of unarmed cities, and sending my son out into <em>that</em> world instead of the one I woke up in, I’m willing to ignore considerations to my love life. I suppose I could do worse; I worry about keeping Maxson in line, but I can’t say he’s ever mistreated me. He’s very <em>understanding </em>of my former life, which is more than I can say for anyone else in the Brotherhood eyeing this political marriage. The Brotherhood <em>really</em> love that man and his lineage; hopefully I can keep this Maxson under my thumb and make sure the <em>next</em> Maxson’s a more amicable force in the Commonwealth”.</p><p>            “Every time I think I’ve learned the extent of your ambitions, General, you just keep moving those lines. Sometimes I wonder about you”.</p><p>            “Yeah, I do too Preston. I do too”.</p><p>            “Look,” Preston said, walking away from Nora. “I can’t claim to understand your reasoning, but I accept it. I’ve never known you to make a bad call before, even in situations like this. I just hope one day you learn that this new world you’re building for us; you can be a part of that too”.</p><p>            He smiled at her earnestly. “You deserve that much. No matter what, you haven’t changed my mind on that”. Without saying another word, he left the General’s quarters to consider the ramifications of the news. Standing just outside the heavy door for the General’s office was Deacon.</p><p>            <em>Oh man, I hope he didn’t hear any of that</em>. Deacon just smiled knowingly at Preston before moving forward and knocking on his door.</p><p>            “Preston, I don’t have anything else to—”</p><p>            “It’s me, boss,” Deacon said.</p><p>            “Oh. Come in”.</p><p>            “I’ve got a couple of things to report,” Deacon said. “Firstly, I took a little boat ride to Spectacle Island. Last I heard the place was full of Mirelurks and my plan was to sniff around the shores and see how many Minutemen or <em>mutual friends</em> of ours we’d need to make the place more livable”.</p><p>            “How many?”</p><p>            “That’s the crazy thing: <em>none</em>. It’s abandoned, General. Nothing but dead Mirelurks as far as the eye can see. Laser weapon fire: clean and precise. There’s no power armor tracks so I kinda doubt it was the Brotherhood of Steel, and an aerial assault by the Brotherhood on that island would have been <em>really </em>hard to miss. Interesting still, there’s a cache of goodies in one of the shacks on the island. It looks like You-Know-Who might have been expecting us”.</p><p>            “You’re saying the Institute know we’re coming?” Nora said in a panic.</p><p>            “Who else besides the Brotherhood and the Institute could have managed to clear the island like that?”</p><p>            “And you’re saying they just <em>left</em> us goodies? What <em>kind</em> of goodies”.</p><p>            “Specialized circuitry. High-power generator materials. The works”.</p><p>            “For the Signal Interceptor? You’re kidding; not only do they <em>know</em> we’re coming, but they’re handing us the keys and opening the door”.</p><p>            “I’m not going to lie to you on this one, boss. This might be a trap. I met up with a couple of our mutual friends on the way back to the Castle. We discussed our thoughts on the matter, but—”</p><p>            “Is Dez here?”</p><p>            “<em>Doctor Mercer</em>? Yeah, she’s here”.</p><p>            “That was fast,” Nora said. “Think you could bring her back here?”</p><p>            “Before I do, we should talk about something. I heard you and Preston talking about a <em>Mr. </em>Mulyer”.</p><p>            <em>Oh crap.</em></p><p>            “I’m not sure what we’re talking about,” Nora said evasively.</p><p>            “Intelligence, remember? I appreciate the discretion, but don’t invite our friends to the nuptials. Not all of them can appreciate your <em>guile hero</em> tactics”.</p><p>            “And you <em>do</em>?”</p><p>            “The Brotherhood are pieces of shit, no offense meant,” Deacon said. “But there’s a <em>lot</em> of possibilities that can rise up from having a man on the inside. A <em>woman</em> on the inside can sometimes be even more interesting; did you know I was a woman for a couple of years? It’s weird to tackle situations from the other side, y’know. You should try it sometime”.</p><p>            “I…don’t even know if I’m still following”.</p><p>            “My <em>point</em> is that I’d like to stick around and see if your crazy idea works, boss. Now again, I’m not going to lie to you. I can’t say I’m not going to intervene if I don’t see the plan going sideways a bit, but if your plan actually works, the implications are astounding”.</p><p>            “Are they?”</p><p>            “We can talk about that later. For now, like I said, just keep the wedding party <em>small</em>. If you had an invitation all put together for Doc Mercer, leave it hidden today. Seem fair?”</p><p>            “Understood, Deacon. Bring her in”.</p><p>            She stood in silence for a few minutes, wondering what Deacon could possibly mean by <em>astounding implications</em>. Not enough time passed to consider all the possibilities before Deacon rushed back into the room, bringing Desdemona behind him and closing the door.</p><p>            “Doctor Mercer”.</p><p>            “General. Did Deacon tell you about the cache of building materials we found on Spectacle Island?”</p><p>            “Well, between that and the presents the Brotherhood gave me, I’d say we’ll have that Signal Interceptor up and running by tomorrow night. Do you think this is a trap?”</p><p>            “I did. I transmitted a message to Tom to have PAM run the numbers on what our latest development could mean”.</p><p>            “And?”</p><p>            “92% certainty that the Institute won’t vaporize you the second we send you there. They want this to work as much as we do, though to what end, I’ve yet to figure it out”.</p><p>            Desdemona sat down in a nearby chair and began lighting up a cigarette. “I’ve been thinking about this non-stop since I was told, General. The point of taking Spectacle Island and the Castle was to ensure that we were a few steps ahead of the Institute. The fact that they know we’re about to break down the door and they <em>haven’t</em> replaced you with a synth yet is astounding”.</p><p>            “If they wanted to snatch you up and pump you for all the intel you know on everyone in the Commonwealth, they wouldn’t be opening the door and inviting you in,” Deacon elaborated.</p><p>            “PAM thinks this has something to do with your son,” Desdemona added. “56% certainty, considering the unusual nature of his abduction”.</p><p>            “I get it,” Nora smiled. “They’re telling me to come get him if I want him so badly”.</p><p>            “But <em>why</em> they’d say that is the question. The Institute don’t usually just hand over things they consider theirs. I’d like to think I’ve gotten ahead of the curve on the Institute but I can’t stop the fact that I’ve had packages get reclaimed”.</p><p>            “Until I walk through that door, I doubt they’ll just <em>tell</em> me, Dez”.</p><p>            “They won’t. Whatever waits for you beyond that door, this is our only opportunity to find out what they really want from the rest of the world. General, I’m now about to tell you the Railroad’s greatest secret; it’s time you learned about Patriot”.</p><p>            “What’s Patriot?”</p><p>            “<em>Who’s</em> Patriot is a better question,” Desdemona elaborated. “And the truth is, we’re not sure. There’s a man --- or a woman, we’re not sure --- within the Institute helping synths to escape. Patriot arranges for synths to leave with care packages and encoded messages for the Railroad. Tinker Tom’s managed to crack a few of these messages and come up with a return message. We’re going to give you this return message on a holotape and ask you to upload its contents to the Institute’s terminal network. <em>Any</em> connected terminal within the Institute will do”.</p><p>            “You want to make contact with him. What should I tell him if I find him?”</p><p>            “All we want to know is what we can do to help him. The rest is up to him”.</p><p>            “Understood,” Nora said as Desdemona produced a holotape and handed it to Deacon, who in turn walked it over from her to Nora. “Don’t lose that, Negotiator, no matter who you have to charm”.</p><p>            She rose from her chair. “So…it seems we’re finally going along with this crazy idea. Should Deacon and I start loading up the boats now or wait for you to be ready?”</p><p>            “I’m waiting on the Brotherhood,” Nora confessed. They could hear the distant sounds of a Vertibird in the air.</p><p>            “The Brotherhood? What’s this about?”</p><p>            “They’re here for me, not you. As far as they’re concerned, <em>you’re a Minuteman contractor</em>. I picked you up on a caravan in Bunker Hill, okay?”</p><p>            “I’ll never understand your co-operation with them <em>and</em> us, but fine. If it’s a short visit, I think I’ll just remain in the tunnels until they’re gone”.</p><p>            “Feel free,” Nora smiled. “They’re just returning items I asked them to fix before my trip abroad”.</p><p>            “Mind if I tag along?” Deacon asked.</p><p>            “Deacon! And risk being identified?”</p><p>            “I’m due for a face change anyway, Dez. Let’s see what I glean from Nora’s friends, shall we?”</p><p>            “Again, feel free”. The Vertibird could be heard landing just outside the Castle’s walls. Nora wandered out of her quarters to go greet the Brotherhood courier only to be surprised to see Maxson disembarking the plane.</p><p>            “Y-you?” She stammered.</p><p>            “You asked me to be personally responsible for this, remember?” Elder Maxson scoffed, before handing her the Pip-Boy. “Quinlan fixed the radio extension. It was starting to fall apart”. Nora turned the radio on to find that the radio signals came in <em>much</em> clearer.</p><p>            “Accommodating as usual, Elder. I appreciate it”.</p><p>            “Knight, something else. I left a holotape in the storage chamber. It’s a Network Scanner Holotape devised by Proctor Quinlan himself. If you put that in any terminal connected to the Institute’s mainframe, it’ll run a full scan of all of their data and encrypt a copy that we can analyze for the war effort. <em>Any </em>information we can get about the Institute could make this war go much more smoothly for us, so make sure you come back with that data”.</p><p>            “Got it, Elder”.</p><p>            “One more thing. We have reason to believe there’s a Doctor Li working within the Institute. I don’t know exactly what division she’s working with, but she once worked with the Brotherhood of Steel on a very special project. It would be best if we could seek out Doctor Li’s co-operation with a similar project that we’re working on now. I’d like you to locate her and see if you can persuade her to return to us”.</p><p>            “You want me to have her leave the Institute?”</p><p>            “You’re very persuasive, Knight. I’m sure you’ll figure something out. You have full leave to persuade her <em>how</em> you see fit, as long as she returns to the Brotherhood. If anything <em>happens</em> to her, though, I’m holding you personally responsible”.</p><p>            “I’ll find her,” Nora said simply. She wasn’t sure about convincing an Institute scientist to change sides, but obliging Maxson was more important than anything else. She was only moments away from finding Shaun.</p><p>            “Very good,” Maxson said. “Now, I have urgent business to return to, so I can’t stay. I just thought I’d see you again personally before…before you leave”.</p><p>            “In case you don’t see me again?” Nora said.</p><p>            “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, Knight. I…appreciate everything you’ve done so far”.</p><p>            “For the Brotherhood,” Nora smiled.</p><p>            “Yes,” Maxson said warily as he turned away. “Do what it takes to make your way back to us safely from the Institute, even if they drop you back into the bay and you have to <em>swim</em> your way back to me”.</p><p>            Nora could say nothing in response as Maxson boarded his Vertibird and disappeared over the horizon.</p><p>#</p><p>            <em>Happy 239<sup>th</sup> Birthday to me.</em></p><p>January 19<sup>th</sup>, 2049 had been the day that Nora had entered the world. Standing on the finished reflector platform as Tinker Tom powered on the final generators and the Signal Interceptor, she wondered if she were going to be blasted to hell in a few short minutes. The hoses around the relay beam transmitter loosened from their holding chambers and flailed wildly in the air as the machine fired up. Tinker Tom’s yells that the machine <em>she’d helped build</em> was ‘supposed to do that!’ did nothing to reassure her.</p><p>            What did reassure her was the faint sound of classical music on her Pip-Boy. The glimmer of a high-level Biometric Scanner within the device, pointing down at her, reminded her that the Institute were watching. The Minutemen and Brotherhood had assumed radio silence within close range of the Prydwen or Castle. Whether she was about to be sent to her husband or her son was about to be determined as the hum of the relay beam became louder and longer.</p><p>            She closed her eyes and imagined her life before the bombs. She was standing in her front yard in a neat yellow dress. The smell of fresh-clipped grass harmonized with the crisp summer air. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, Nate was pulling the Corvega out of the driveway to drive to work as Shaun and Thomas Rosa played across the street in the Rosa family garage. She saw her little boy’s face as he turned to look at her from the other side of the road.</p><p>            “Mommy!” He smiled.</p><p>            “Shaun?” She heard herself ask. The roar of the relay beam crashed around her like a thunder clap. A flash of blue energy, quickly changing into a blinding white light, erased the world of the Commonwealth Wasteland from her view. A moment passed before she felt solidity returning; all of her molecules had been transmitted across the electromagnetic spectrum and dropped into a clean, empty room, smelling of floor cleaner.</p><p>            When was the last time she’d seen a place that was so sterile ---- so <em>removed </em>from the world outside? Stepping out of the relay room and wandering into the room ahead of her, she noticed that there was no one else present. Only an elevator platform indicated any sort of exit from beyond this room, but when Nora pushed the button to open the elevator doors, nothing moved. An old man’s voice, gentle and soothing, echoed from an overhead speaker in the room.</p><p>            “Hello”.</p><p>            “Who’s there?” Nora asked back. Her only answer was the elevator door unlocking.</p><p>            “I wondered if you might make it here. You’re quite resourceful. I am known as Father; the Institute is under my guidance”.</p><p>            Such a soothing voice didn’t sound like a man capable of authorizing an infant’s kidnapping, wiping out a settlement, and all of the other things the Institute had been responsible for. Still, Shaun was nowhere to be seen, and she could decide <em>nothing</em> until she knew he was safe and loved, the way Kellogg had once told her that he had been.</p><p>            “I assure you, you will not be harmed. Please step into the elevator”. Obeying, Nora quietly stepped unto the elevator, letting the doors close as the platform descended into the heart of the Institute. To her horror, she discovered the Institute was <em>beautiful</em>. Artificial light managed to be crafted to perfection to mimic the warmth of the sunlight outside. Green grass and trees were placed carefully around the main atrium of the Institute, and Nora could see crowds of people walking around the Institute or sitting on patios and windows in one of several residential towers, living their daily lives as if the bombs had never dropped. Clean clothes, neat hair, abundant electricity --- water was so abundant here that it was used in some parts of the Institute’s atrium as a <em>decoration</em>. Nora was pressing her hands to the clear elevator casing, staring out in stunned silence as the old man’s voice continued on overhead.</p><p>            “This is the reality of the Institute: this place, these people, the work we do. For over a hundred years, we’ve dedicated ourselves to humanity’s survival. I’d like to talk about to you about what we can do <em>for everyone</em>. There’s too much at stake here to risk it all. You’ve seen the world above ground. You know it’s unstable”.</p><p>            The elevator descended below the main portion of the Institute, into an underground tunnel system. As the doors opened, Nora found herself faced with a one-way corridor to another elevator. This one was much smaller and did not boast clear plexiglass walls. When the doors closed, she had no idea where they would take her, but she could feel the elevator raising her up one level beyond where she had just exited from.</p><p>            “I can only imagine what you’ve heard. What you think of us,” the voice continued. “I’d like to show you that you may have the wrong impression. But that can wait”.</p><p>            The doors opened, revealing another hallway. Just up ahead, Nora could see a room with clear wall and a closed door. On the other side of the glass wall was a young boy in a white Institute jumper, playing with a toy truck, blissfully unaware of the drama transpiring around him. Nora felt her throat go dry as she slowly stepped forward, unable to believe what she was seeing. The voice overhead seemed to be smiling at her from its inflection. The man’s tone reminded her a bit of Nate: soft, reserved, everything the outside world lacked.</p><p>            “You are here for a specific, very personal reason. You are here for your son”.</p><p>            As she drew closer to the room on the end of the hallway, she could feel the uncontrollable tears streaming from her face. She put one hand gently on the glass wall and wiped her face with the other. The young boy whose face she’d last seen in Kellogg’s memories looked up at her with uncertainty and confusion.</p><p>            “Shaun?” She whispered softly. <em>Are you really here in front of me? Are you real?</em></p><p>            “Huh?” He said simply. “Yes, I’m Shaun”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0034"><h2>34. Don't They Know It's The End Of The World</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 34: In which Nora copes with the truth about the Institute.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>DON’T THEY KNOW IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD?</h1><p>
  <em>“The polestar wheeled about my head/until such time it grew/a deep well of despair I found/the day my dreams came true”. – Baroness “Shock Me”</em>
</p><hr/><p><strong>            <em>Yes. I’m Shaun.</em> </strong>At these words, Nora felt herself drop to her knees. The child before her looked back at her in confusion, taking in the strange sight of her hair; her dirty clothes; the dirt on her face and the subtle handprints that her hands left on the pristine glass.</p><p>            “I…I’m so glad to see you’re alright!”</p><p>            “I don’t know you,” Shaun whispered in a hushed voice.</p><p>            “You don’t know me?” Nora felt a momentary wave of pain rush through her heart before remembering that Shaun had been an infant when he was pried from Nate’s arms. Every day that she’d spent frozen underground after Nate’s death was another day that he’d grown up in the confines of the Institute, kept away from her for some unknown reason. Shaun’s inability to remember her wasn’t his fault; she could only grin and bear the side effects of their unique relationship.</p><p>            “I’ve missed you,” she murmured softly, only alarming the child further. Searching for some sort of solution, she looked around the room to see if there was anyone else around. Other than an empty bathroom, there was no sign of another adult.</p><p>            “Shaun, I need to ask you something”. Knowing that <em>someone</em> had to be caring for him, she bent down at the front of the glass surrounding him again to look him in the eyes.</p><p>            “I don’t know you! You’re weird! Go away!”</p><p>            “Shaun, just…there’s someone else here with you, right? There <em>has</em> to be. Who takes care of you here?”</p><p>            “Father?! Father, help me!”</p><p>            <em>Father. </em>A title that should have been reserved for Nate was now being used by someone else Nora had never met. Whether this person had been responsible for Shaun’s kidnapping, or just another strange figure caught in the center of it all, Nora found herself swallowing more anger. Calming Shaun down came first, and it wouldn’t be possible without understanding the world he’d been living in without her. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed an adjacent door open. An elderly man with a thick gray beard stepped into the room and looked at them both curiously. Shaun ran to the edge of the glass and pleaded with the man.</p><p>            “Father help! There’s someone here trying to take me!”</p><p>            “Shaun,” the man said quietly. He hesitated for a moment, turning his attention over to a very frightened Nora.</p><p>            <em>This man is Shaun’s surrogate Father?</em></p><p>“S9-23, recall code Cirrus,” the old man said calmly while still looking at Nora. The child pleading with the old man behind the glass stopped moving, his head slumping into an unconscious position as if someone had just switched him off. Nora looked at young Shaun in horror, struggling to comprehend what was happening as the old man inched closer.</p><p>            She felt herself inch towards the door leading to Shaun’s tiny bedroom, pulling her pistol from her hip and aiming it towards the old man. Father, as Shaun called him, stopped approaching her and gently held his hands up to show he was unarmed.</p><p>            “I assure you that I mean you no harm, Nora Mulyer,” he said softly. She realized that this man’s voice had been the same one speaking to her on the overhead speakers. “He’s a prototype, you understand? We’re only just now beginning to explore the effects of extreme emotional stimuli”.</p><p>            “You know me,” she whispered, putting her back against the door in a subconscious move to protect her unconscious son. “…and the boy? A <em>synth</em> copy of my child? What possible reason could you have to do such a thing? <em>Where the hell is my real son?</em>”</p><p>            “A copy is never quite the same as the real thing, is it? Please, try to keep an open mind. I recognize that you are emotional and that your journey here has been fraught with challenges”.</p><p>            “Motherfucker, even if you’ve watched my whole damned trip here, you wouldn’t have the first clue how fucked up my journey here has been!” Nora kept her eyes focused on the old man, not moving her gun from its aim at his chest even as she felt her eyes begin to water again. “<em>Enough. </em>Show me the real Shaun”.</p><p>            “I know,” the man reassured her. “You’ve been through so much and sacrificed a great deal just to find him. <em>Please</em>, don’t cry. I’m not doing this to hurt you”.</p><p>            “Why are you doing this <em>at all</em>? What did I --- us, my whole family --- what did <em>we </em>ever do to you? <em>Why </em>is this happening?!”</p><p>            “For so much more than you could possibly imagine, Nora. I know that doesn’t mean much to you right now. The degree of trauma you’re experiencing right now is understandable, but if you expect answers, I need you to understand that this situation is far more complicated than you or I could possibly have imagined. I promise you, I will answer <em>every</em> question you have. Please put down the gun. I just want to talk”.</p><p>            “After all you’ve put me through, I get one question with the gun in my hands. <em>Don’t</em> bullshit me, or I’ll end you. I mean it!”</p><p>            The man kept his hands above his head. “Name it”.</p><p>            “Where is my real baby?”</p><p>            “Closer than you think. You have travelled very far and suffered a great deal to find your son. Well, your tenacity and dedication have been rewarded. It’s good to finally meet you after all this time. <em>It’s me. I </em>am your son”.</p><p>            A warning shot fired into the wall just behind Father’s head.</p><p>            “I <em>told</em> you not to bullshit me. I’m being <em>very</em> patient with you”.</p><p>            “I cannot change the truth, mother”.</p><p>            “<em>HOW?!</em>” Nora lowered the gun, breaking down into tears as she looked at the man claiming to be her only child. She couldn’t deny that the man’s face was a painful reminder of what might have been if Nate had been allowed to grow old. A million questions surfaced in her mind, though ‘Shaun’ had promised he’d answer them all.</p><p>            “Why would you even say that?!”</p><p>            “Why indeed?” He asked her. His eyes reflected a subtle pain as he continued explaining, “ask yourself that. What reason could I <em>possibly</em> have to lie about something like that? We’ve allowed you into the Institute unharmed and declined to confiscate your weapons. We led you to us all along and gave you parts for the Signal Interceptor you built. We even calibrated our relay to work with your makeshift device so that it wouldn’t incinerate you. What <em>other</em> reason could I possibly have to commit to bringing you, an uncalculated variable, into the Institute?”</p><p>            “If you were watching me the whole time, why not just bring me right to you? Why would you leave me in that <em>fucked up world</em> outside, just to have me stumble my way to you? Why would you do that to your own mother, Shaun?!”</p><p>            “Easy, mother. I think you need a chair and some Med-X”.</p><p>            “I <em>need</em> answers”.</p><p>            “Very well. To you, the passage of time was impossible to comprehend, and you’d just been through the trauma of watching my father be killed. You nearly blew my head off a moment ago with your pistol; imagine what you would have done to an escort team, or what you might have thought was happening. You had to be coaxed into following our trail rather than pushed. Since you emerged from the Vault and immediately set out looking for the son you lost, I led you to believe that ten years had passed to see how you would cope. Much to the surprise of some others in the Institute, you didn’t abandon me. Knowing you were willing to seek me out even despite the passage of time, is it really so hard to believe that it wasn’t ten, but <em>sixty</em> years that passed? That is the reality”.</p><p>            “<em>Sixty years. </em>Why did you wait so long?!”</p><p>            “I <em>didn’t know</em>”. She could hear Shaun’s voice waver a little as he said that. He came up to her gently, putting one reassuring hand on her shoulder and bending down slowly, holding back a wince, as he pulled her close to him. “I swear I didn’t, mother. This was a shock to me when I found out. I can only imagine what it must be like for you”. At that moment, she felt herself <em>break</em>. Shaun hugged her tighter and tighter as she felt her body finally buckle under the emotional weight; as she felt the screams leave through her rattling lungs and feared her tears would finally drown her. “It’s <em>alright</em>, mother,” she could hear him whisper repeatedly. “I’m here now. I’m here”.</p><p>            “When did you find out, Shaun?” She was weaker now, drained from the magnitude of it all. He continued cradling her in his arms gently as he went on explaining his side of the story.</p><p>            “I have to admit it’s been a few years. Until I became the Director of the Institute in 2282, I had no idea you were still alive. Once I <em>did</em> find out about you, I had to make several decisions in order to make this event happen. As I said, I knew you would be emotional and that there was so much that would have to be explained to you: so much put into motion. You were released only when everything was in place to guide you to me on your own accord, and even that proved challenging”.</p><p>            Gently, like he was handling a porcelain doll, he guided her to her feet and pulled her over to the bathroom. “I couldn’t teleport you, as I said. I had <em>meant</em> to guide you to Conrad Kellogg. I purposefully posted him in Diamond City to try and make it easier for you to locate him. I didn’t think it would take more than a couple of days. After that, however, the whole Virgil debacle happened. I know you contacted him somehow as one of your methods of reaching me”.</p><p>            “Shaun, <em>you’re </em>the Director of the Institute?”</p><p>            “I am. That must leave you with so many more questions”.</p><p>            “Virgil said the only Shaun he knew was the Institute Director…a Doctor Grayson”.</p><p>            “Me, mother. After I was brought here, a former head of the Advanced Systems Department raise me as his own child: Doctor Luther Grayson. My adoptive father, now long passed. I didn’t think much of it. I was told from an early age they’d saved me from the outside world, but I never questioned who my real parents for a long, long time. I’m fully aware that it’s a cold world out there. I figured either you’d both abandoned me, or the outside world had claimed you both as more senseless casualties”.</p><p>            “If you’re the Director of the Institute, that meant Kellogg answered to you”.</p><p>            “The Institute has had to take advantage of Kellogg’s cruel nature in the past, I freely admit that. Killing you, however, was never part of the plan. Because of the complications that arose from Doctor Brian Virgil to the Institute, I had to ask Kellogg to relocate to Fort Hagen, which made it more difficult for you to locate him. Kellogg’s decision to attempt to kill you, for whatever reason, was his own. He was <em>supposed</em> to bring you to me. To make matters worse, once you two had your fateful confrontation, you disappeared from all Institute surveillance for weeks before suddenly reappearing in Diamond City. I feared he’d killed you, but then you returned and I had to make new plans in the blink of an eye”.</p><p>            “And what were those plans?” Nora asked Shaun softly as he opened the shower door for her.</p><p>            “I never finished them. Before I could, you’d fallen in with the Brotherhood of Steel and ventured into the Glowing Sea. It quickly became apparent that you’d sought out Virgil and moved ahead of all expectations I had for you, but that you’d also been out in the Commonwealth for a long time and undoubtedly heard unfortunate stories about the Institute. As I said, while you remain here, I’d like to show you that you may have the wrong impression about us, but first I must know if you’ll even stay”.</p><p>            “It’s true, I’ve heard so many things about the Institute that are <em>upsetting</em>, Shaun. They’re scared of you up there, you know. I think they have <em>every</em> reason to be”.</p><p>            “We can talk about that in due time and address solutions; will you stay to help me?”</p><p>            “I’ll reserve judgment for now, if that’s what you’re asking. I came all this way for you. I wouldn’t walk out on a whim”.</p><p>            “Mother, you have no idea how happy that makes me,” he smiled. “The Institute is now your home as much as it is mine. I’ll have some quarters drawn up for you. You must be <em>exhausted</em>. For now, allow me to get you some clean clothes. Institute apparel is all unisex. I’m sure I can find you something close to your size. Do you remember how to use a hot shower?”</p><p>            “I do”. She must have been quite a sight to see for a man who’d spent over half of a century in a world seemingly untouched by the apocalypse. Shaun waited outside for her, slipping into the bathroom only to leave a set of fresh clothes after the privacy door was closed and Nora was under the showerhead, letting hot water wash the residue of the outside world away. Looking back at herself in the mirror after getting dressed, she couldn’t recognize the person in the mirror anymore. The Institute jumper was clean and tidy looking, bearing the symbol of the Vitruvian man that Nora now knew beyond all doubt to be the banner of the Institute. Her hair, abused from the radiation and from one side being shaved on account of her facial injury, remained damp and strange looking in the mirror, spilling over the left side of her face. The right side was beginning to grow back, but was not yet at a length where it blended into her appearance. The scars on her cheek had faded slightly, though Nora doubted her face would ever look completely pristine again. She combed her hair back slightly, wondering if she could have the left side cut later, before wandering back out to look at Shaun.</p><p>            “Feeling better?”</p><p>            “I can’t remember the last time I had clean fingernails”.</p><p>            “An inconvenience you can forget now that you’re here,” he mused, putting one hand gently on her shoulder as he guided her back to the room where they’d originally met. The child synth prototype remained in the glass room, head bent down just as it had been when Shaun stated the recall code. Shaun noticed her attention to it and smiled a little.</p><p>            “I’m curious. Tell me, as a parent looking for the younger version of me, what do you think?”</p><p>            “It’s uncanny…”</p><p>            “Do you think you could ever love him? Like you would a real boy?”</p><p>            “Why would you ask me that?”</p><p>            “Just curious, mother. I’ve always had a natural affinity for science. It’s in my nature to question”.</p><p>            “They raised you well,” Nora sighed. She grazed her wedding ring with her thumb before adding, “your father never got to watch you grow up”.</p><p>            “Yes. What happened to him was…well. I’ve read the reports. What happened to him was an unfortunate amount of collateral damage”.</p><p>            “<em>Collateral damage?!</em> Is that <em>all</em> it is to you?”</p><p>            “I forget,” Shaun said quickly, “it’s been such a short time for you. Unlike you, I don’t have any direct memories of him, and I’ve had a long time to adjust to the void left in his absence”.</p><p>            “If it was <em>collateral damage</em>, what was it for?” Nora asked. “Why’d they choose you?” Shaun was leading Nora out of his quarters now, up the stairs of the residential tower to an elevated walkway and out to another tower. The people of the Institute were gawking at her, although most of them seemed to be smiling at her as they passed.</p><p>            “Ah, that’s the <em>real</em> question, isn’t it mother? Why me? In the year 2227, the Institute was on the verge of a breakthrough in synthetic tissue development. They needed to crack the genetic code to create unadulterated bio-organisms unhindered by the ravages of the radiation outside. Sadly, in all that time, even they had been affected by the effects of the Great War. A stroke of luck occurred when they found old pre-War records of a cryogenic Vault to the northwest, and so it would pass that they happened upon me. I was exactly what the Institute needed: an infant untouched by time and radiation. It was my DNA that became the basis of every Generation Three synth you’ve seen. I am their Father. Through science, we are family: the synths, myself, and you”.</p><p>            “Do you have any other family? A wife? Children, perhaps?”</p><p>            “No mother. I’ve always dedicated myself to the Institute’s work. I won’t be having any natural descendants at this age. Maybe someday, you will”.</p><p>            She wondered if he knew about the arrangement with Elder Maxson. There would be little means for him, of all people, to have any way of knowing that. His next sentence elaborated that he knew nothing about that arrangement at all.</p><p>            “We have my father’s DNA, you know”.</p><p>            “You…what?”</p><p>            “Vault-Tec’s cryogenic technology was astoundingly powerful. Before we awoke you, we collected samples from him. Between the samples and our own Bioscience experts, we could easily arrange to allow you the opportunity to start again, if you wished”.</p><p>            “I don’t think I could stand to look at a synth version of your father, Shaun. He meant far too much to me”.</p><p>            “I understand. It was one of many ideas to help you heal after all of the trauma that you’d been put through and all that you’d lost. I won’t deny that seeing me now at this age was likely never what you imagined our time together would be like. The child synth was another idea, and he can be brought online again later, if you’d prefer that avenue. We could even use what we have of his DNA to allow you to have another child if you wished. I hope I’m not being too presumptuous, mother. Whether you decide to seek out these solutions, others, or none at all, is entirely up to you”.</p><p>            Reaching their destination, Shaun opened the door to a small apartment in one of the Institute’s residential towers. A bed, a small desk, and a bathroom had been allocated for Nora’s use.</p><p>            “Tonight, you should take plenty of time to rest. If you proceed down the main stairs, you’ll find the atrium. There’s an infirmary and a café there if you require medical assistance or if you get hungry. That button on the wall there will call a synth attendant if you need anything I didn’t readily account for. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll stop by in the morning to check on you”.</p><p>#</p><p>            As soon as she’d laid on the bed, she’d fallen asleep. Restful sleep had been centuries ago; so had climate control, clean sheets, and a soft mattress. When she woke up, disoriented and confused, she half-expected to find herself back in the year 2077. It <em>wasn’t</em> the year 2077, though. Nate had been dead for decades, and Shaun was an old man likely asleep in his own residence. There had been a patio outside of Nora’s door. She’d stepped outside cautiously and stood on the balcony outside, looking up in wonder at the artificial starlight that illuminated what the Institute had replaced the natural sky with.</p><p>            A Gen-1 synth was cleaning the floor with a mop. It looked up at her for a moment in curiosity, and Nora half expected it to attack.</p><p>            “Scanning unknown identity. Clearance confirmed”. The machine went back to mopping. Nora swallowed her apprehension and looked out at the Institute in all its glory. If the world hadn’t ended, this would likely have been the future Nora would have dreamed about in her elderly years. Bragging about her high-ranking son, <em>Doctor</em> Shaun Mulyer, while she spent her twilight years admiring the utopia that had once been her life. A stark reminder echoed in her mind that Shaun’s last name was Grayson. He’d stopped being Shaun Jonathan Mulyer the moment he’d left the Vault. The life where she and Nate had helped Shaun achieve that prestige was just another fantasy. Trembling at the reality of her situation, she looked down at her hand and slowly removed her wedding ring from her left hand, transitioning it to the widow’s finger on her right as she made her way back to her residence and shut the door.</p><p>            “I found him, Nate. After all this time”.</p><p>            She looked down at her bare left hand and said softly, “<em>Goodbye</em>”.</p><p>            A short while passed as she sat in silence in her apartment, staring at the walls and questioning the events that had brought her to this point. A lingering seed of doubt remained in her mind as to whether or not Shaun was telling her the whole truth. What if he wasn’t who he said he was? But as he said, why would he have reason to lie about that? Admitting that Shaun was the leader of the Institute made things much worse, in reality. If Shaun had really been responsible for atrocities like University Point and the synth patrols wandering the Commonwealth, shooting innocents on sight for getting too close, that meant <em>her</em> baby was a cold-blooded murderer. It also meant that <em>Shaun</em> was the primary target of the Brotherhood: how would a ruthless military leader like Maxson react to the news of Nora’s infant son being the villain of the story the entire time?</p><p>            Thoughts of the Minutemen and the Railroad brushed through her mind as well. The Minutemen had been struggling to rebuild the outside world in the face of devastation wrought by entities such as the Institute. The Railroad had been working tirelessly to free enslaved synths that became self-aware and fled the Institute. Remembering that the Railroad had asked her to find Patriot and seek out his assistance, Nora decided to reach into her Pip-Boy and pull out the Railroad holotape, inserting it into the terminal provided in her room and watching a progress bar fill on the screen.</p><p>            <em>Message sent.</em> It took a half hour before a reply appeared on her terminal. “Meet me in the maintenance closet outside the infirmary”.</p><p>            A large building within the Institute atrium was marked with a red cross, signifying that it was the infirmary. Nora quietly made her way down the stairs and into the infirmary, passing by a Gen-3 synth who paid her no attention as he quietly stocked the shelves. Moving to the back entrance of the infirmary, Nora spied a closet door and made sure she wasn’t being followed before wandering into the closet.</p><p>            The closet turned out to be a hallway with <em>two</em> closets on either end. Opening the second closet, she noticed a young man no older than Maxson in an Institute jumper waiting for her.</p><p>            “<em>You?</em>” He said incredulously. “You cracked Trinity? I didn’t think anyone on the outside could do that”.</p><p>            “It wasn’t me, it was an associate of mine from the Railroad”.</p><p>            “The Railroad? Like, <em>the </em>Railroad?” </p><p>            “They asked me to upload that holotape to make contact with the person helping escaped synths leave the Institute. They call this person ‘Patriot’. I take it that’s you?”<br/>            “They even gave me a code-name,” the boy laughed. “This is unreal”.</p><p>            “My name is Liam Binet,” Patriot said after a moment. “And everyone already knows who you are. Now that I know it’s you, I guess this means I’m not getting turned in to the SRB, right?”</p><p>            “The who?”</p><p>            “Yep, I should be good,” he scoffed. “Alright, don’t worry about that. Forget I said anything. Your message said only one word: friend. What does that mean?”</p><p>            “You’re helping synths escape, so the Railroad wanted to know what they could do to help you. More importantly, I wanted to ask you <em>why</em>”.</p><p>            “Well, I started messing with the terminals around the Institute just to see if I <em>could</em>, you know? It started off as a challenge, but then I got into more and more records and I realized the Gen-3’s are just like us humans without any freedom. From then on, I started fudging records and patrol teams to put synths wanting to escape on the surface. I always thought they were on their own once they got up there. I never knew the Railroad had gotten a hold of the synths”.</p><p>            “Sounds like they’ve gotten <em>several</em> of your synths, Liam. Hell, even my Minutemen are starting to get involved in hiding them”.</p><p>            “Really? So it can’t be as bad up there as everyone says, right? You’ve been up to the Commonwealth, ma’am. Surely you could tell me what it’s like?”</p><p>            “It’s no Institute,” Nora advised him. “But…we can make it better”.</p><p>            “That’s not what Father thinks”.</p><p>            “I suppose I’ll have to talk about that with my son tomorrow”.</p><p>            “Maybe. Anyway, listen. With you in the picture, I’ve got a plan to get several synths out of the Institute at once. Where’s he working now?” Liam thought aloud, “…in the west atrium, yeah. Follow me”.</p><p>            Liam and Nora wandered from the maintenance hallway to the atrium, with Liam picking up a tri tool along the way and handing it to Nora.</p><p>            “In case anyone asks us why we were there,” Liam said. It had been a good thing that he’d done so. A female synth turned her attention to the maintenance tunnel as soon as she saw both Liam and <em>Nora</em> leaving the tunnel.</p><p>            “Mother!” She nodded. “I was under the impression that you were asleep”.</p><p>            “I’ve been asleep,” Nora said curtly. “Now I’m, er…exploring”.</p><p>            “She needed something to fix that Pip-Boy on her arm,” Liam said quickly. “I opted to help, so I went into the maintenance room and grabbed a tri tool for her”.</p><p>            “Oh Mother, you shouldn’t have troubled yourself with that,” the synth smiled blankly. “We could have filed a work order with Advanced Systems on your behalf. It’s my understanding that Father would like you to meet with the different departments of the Institute in the early morning.</p><p>            “It’ll be faster if I fix it, K8-21”. The synth’s designation was neatly printed on a lapel on her uniform.</p><p>            “I suppose you’re correct, Mr. Binet. Eve enjoys bragging about your aptitude with terminals. Still, Mother has had a long, exhausting journey to reach the Institute. If you’re having trouble sleeping, I could head to the infirmary and ask M1-43 to administer a sleep aid. M1-43 is the authorized unit to handle non-emergency medical care when Doctor Volkert is off-duty”.</p><p>            “It’s a lot to take in, K8-21,” Nora said dismissively. Before they could proceed with their conversation, they needed to get the synth off of their backs. “K8, do you happen to know the time?”</p><p>            “It’s four forty-five in the morning, Mother”.</p><p>            “Oh, so it’s not even that early for me. I imagine Shaun will want me ready at about seven or eight in the morning?”</p><p>            “That’s the approximate time that Father will begin work, Mother”.</p><p>            “Excellent. Liam, how long do you think it’ll take to fix the Pip-Boy and tell me that story you were going to?”</p><p>            “Oh? Around…fifteen? Twenty minutes?”</p><p>            “K8-21, is there someone who cuts hair in the Institute?”</p><p>            “We have a synth on duty for grooming assistance. Under normal circumstances this service is only provided to Institute personnel between the hours of eight a.m to eight p.m, but…” K8-21 could be seen hesitating for a moment, looking at Nora’s unusual hairstyle.</p><p>            “I suppose an exception could be made”.</p><p>            “Don’t wake anyone up just yet,” Nora smiled. “When Liam’s done, I’d like to head back to my quarters and freshen up. I might stop into the café in a bit for some coffee and breakfast before any beauty salon appointments. The Institute <em>has</em> coffee, right?”</p><p>            “Of course, Mother”. Satisfied, the synth nodded at Liam and Nora and walked away. Liam led Nora to a bench on the western side of the atrium, just outside of the Advanced Systems division. A synth with the designation “Z1-14” was mopping the floor just behind the bench where Liam and Nora sat down and discussed Nora’s Pip-Boy.</p><p>            “Man, this thing is <em>awesome</em>. I’m not gonna lie, the operating system is a bit 2077, but it’s amazing what Robco could pull off before the Great War. Hell, the fact that it took the Institute a hundred years just to try and surpass operating systems like this really speaks to what the world was like in your time,” Liam marveled. He looked at the attachments hooked up to the Pip-Boy.</p><p>            “What’s this antenna?”</p><p>            “A radio beacon, so I can keep in contact with allies of mine above ground. It doesn’t work down here, though”.</p><p>            “Well, the heart of the Institute is about twenty-five hundred feet below the surface, and we’re only going deeper. It takes almost as much work to keep radio signals going for the relay as it does to keep the lights on. People above ground, they’re…friendly?”</p><p>            “Some more than others, Liam, but it’s not a lifeless hellscape. I had a lot of help to make it this far”.</p><p>            “That’s very nice to hear,” Liam smiled, before whispering softly, “<em>psst. Z1. Did you hear that?</em>”</p><p>            “Sir?” The synth said, not lifting his head up from his task. “Meeting here is dangerous, and you bring a stranger?”</p><p>            “She’s with the Railroad, Z1. She’s a friend”.</p><p>            Nora kept her eyes forward as Z1 mentioned sadly that he’d never seen another human being care about the plight of the synths before. It didn’t bother her to see the Gen-1 and Gen-2 synths being assigned menial tasks as slave labor, but watching the Gen-3 synths wrestle between mechanical servitude and mindful consciousness was disheartening. Still, the cost for their servitude was getting to live <em>here</em>, at a much higher standard of living, even as a servant. It seemed justifiable for a moment before Nora remembered that the Brotherhood would one day be knocking on the door, ready to gun down every synth with a designation listed on their uniform lapel. She listened on as Liam tinkered with her Pip-Boy using the tri tool. Thirteen synths, <em>thirteen</em>, were willing to risk leaving the Institute immediately, given the chance. Liam Binet’s usual method of breaking a synth free was covertly hacking into the Institute’s mainframe and using their relative lack of terminal security to forge a work order assigning a potential escapee to an above-ground salvage team or patrol. From there, the synth merely had to <em>forget</em> to report for extraction back to the Institute, and find a place to hide where a Courser would not locate them. This was easier said than done considering that synths left the Institute with no knowledge of the outside world and nothing but what Liam could manage to hide away for them. Clothes that allowed the synths to blend in with the citizens of the Commonwealth were typically <em>not</em> something that Liam could pack into a care package. Furthermore, to avoid further complications, Liam typically had to space out the amount of synths leaving on a work patrol who would not willingly return, and leave some work patrols unadulterated to stay a step ahead of the Synth Retention Bureau.</p><p>            With youth came recklessness. Much like Maxson’s reckless endeavor to ‘liberate’ the Commonwealth with a show of superior firepower and force, Liam Binet felt the need to free all thirteen synths Z1-14 spoke of in one foul swoop. “Putting them all on work patrols will take <em>forever</em>,” the boy lamented, “but…there’s some new maintenance tunnels being set up near an alternate teleporter room. The problem is, they’re behind some high-security doors that even I can’t hack”.</p><p>            Liam finished his work on Nora’s Pip-Boy and proceeded to explain quietly. “The original framework that constitutes the Institute’s cybersecurity mainframe is a pre-War security suite called Code Defender. It’s <em>really</em> advanced stuff. We still have mothballed terminals running Version 1 in storage somewhere. A head-on hack of the newer versions of Code Defender is a sucker play, but I doubt the SRB will ever suspect a sideways attack from a very old terminal. Cracking Code Defender’s antiquated versions is going to be <em>very</em> difficult though. If your friends could find me some old login credentials, I could skip a lot of extra work”.</p><p>            “I’m sure I could manage to put in a request,” Nora smiled.</p><p>            “It’s probably asking a lot. We’ve already tried finding login credentials in the CIT ruins above the Institute, but synths I’ve asked to locate anything for me up there have all come back empty-handed. It seems two centuries of disrepair hasn’t done good things for the Commonwealth Institute of Technology’s record-keeping systems. Someone <em>had</em> to live in Boston, though, who had a remote login credential <em>somewhere</em>. It’s a long shot, but hopefully your friends can track down such <em>elusive</em> information”.</p><p>            He pointed to Nora’s Pip-Boy. “Oh, I did some tinkering, by the way. Pip-Boys all have an extra adapter slot for RJ-45 cables. It used to be something that only RobCo technicians used when they had to install software updates from a master terminal, so a lot of Pip-Boy models had the slot <em>hidden</em> to prevent tampering. I’ve adjusted the cover so you can have access to it. The typical Pip-Boy interface doesn’t work on a lot of terminals, but if you need to do any hacking on the surface to find those credentials for me, I can write up a couple of hacking subroutine programs. All you’ll need to do is find an RJ-45 cable, plug the two items together, and hit play. I’m sure we’ve got a ton of those cables <em>somewhere</em>”.</p><p>            “That’s <em>really</em> useful, Liam”.</p><p>            “I hope so. Might as well give you an edge if I’m sending you to do some dirty work for me, right? That’s what friends do”.</p><p>`#</p><p>            Making her way back to her room, Nora took a short amount of time to change clothes and enjoy another hot shower. A synth attendant came to Nora’s door while she was in the middle of getting dressed, offering her a holotape by Liam Binet which was marked simply ‘Pip-Boy Software Enhancements’. Liam had even been so kind as to have the synth bring over an RJ-45 cable that the Binet household had. Downloading the programs on the tape to her Pip-Boy and then testing out her new toy on the terminal in her room, she marveled at the exceeding luxury of finally feeling like she was back at her old life.</p><p>            “Don’t these people know it’s the end of the world?” Nora joked to herself. Diamond City Radio and Radio Freedom somehow still came through in the Institute when other local broadcasts did not. The Skeeter Davis song was playing as she thumbed through the terminal. General information about the Institute was readily available for her: one of Shaun’s many accommodations to allow her to understand the life he’d always known. On the Pip-Boy, Nora could see extra files that were hidden from her view on the terminal; the Institute had not completely disconnected her terminal from the main network. She thought about taking advantage of this opportunity to use the network scanner holotape that Maxson had given her, but the realization that doing this would mean enabling his war against the Institute --- Shaun’s home.</p><p>            She probably wasn’t leaving the Institute today, leaving her with a bit more time to make a decision. For now, the only option was to watch and wait as the Institute’s true agenda finally became clear. The thing she worried about most involving the Institute were escaped Institute synths. No matter what angle she viewed that situation from, there was always a conflict of interest. The Institute wanted their synths to remain under their control so much that they had an entire section of Institute personnel whose sole purpose was to reclaim missing synths, but such a goal stood in direct opposition to the Railroad, whose entire mission was to free synths from Institute control. That said nothing about the other two major factions in the Commonwealth: the Brotherhood sought to eliminate synths completely, while the Minutemen represented an entire populace of people who were undecided about the prospect of synths, or the Institute, walking among them. On the Pip-Boy, one such file that had been decrypted by the initial interface of the Pip-Boy to the main terminal was a file labelled <strong>InitSRB_MissingSynthArchiveMaster.db</strong>. Realizing that this would be important information to use no matter how the synth question was eventually answered, Nora opened the file from her Pip-Boy, projecting information of open files on missing synths who had escaped as far back as <em>thirty-five years ago.</em></p><p>            “Do they really track them for such long periods of time?” She looked at the oldest synth record she could find and saw a picture of a pretty young blonde woman staring back at her.</p><p>            <strong>Unit ID: A9-21</strong></p><p>
  <strong>            Status: At large, investigation open but suspended.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>            Assigned Courser: None.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>            Location (last sighting + date): Quincy, November 5<sup>th</sup>, 2253</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>            Recovery Priority: 2 – Unit of some interest in understanding retention issues plaguing synth units as a whole. Higher priority not reassigned due to unlikelihood of recovery.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>            Notes: [2253] Using the alias “Cunningham”. Possibly seeking assistance from Commonwealth natives to remain concealed. Quincy under Minutemen occupation; too difficult to retrieve covertly at this time. [2283] Case remains open solely for historical and documentative purposes. A9-21 likely to have left Commonwealth or been destroyed by now. Intelligence from this case and others suggests that in uncontrolled environments such as the Commonwealth ruins, synths do undergo some sort of aging and weight gain or loss, albeit at a decreased rate. If A9-21 has somehow managed to survive this long, it’s possible she has aged to the equivalent of at least fifteen years. Exact amount of time may be longer factoring for emotional stimuli and trauma in the Commonwealth. No data exists at this time on how such variables affect a synth. Whether or not this case will be resolved, it remains a fascinating case study of the outcomes of situations when synths escape into the Commonwealth. Recommend keeping case on archives until at least 2378, as unit’s max biological shelf life will have elapsed by this point under all possible simulations if reclamation is not done prior to this point.</strong>
</p><p>            “So synths can age and die,” Nora mused. The information about A9-21 on her Pip-Boy helped to <em>humanize</em> the synths a bit more in her mind. She wondered what the Railroad would think of A9-21’s story. Scrolling through other such records, she took the time to examine a few more stories of escaped synths. The list of synths could be re-ordered in the database by alphabetical order, age of record, or other such factors. Nora selected “danger classification” out of curiosity and noticed a familiar face staring back at her on the screen: a female synth with dark features whom Nora had last remembered with bleached hair, sporting a minigun.</p><p>
  <strong>            Unit ID: G7-81</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>            Status: Unit at large, investigation underway.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>            Assigned Courser: Pending</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>            Location (last sighting + date): Near Fallon’s Department Store, December 29<sup>th</sup>, 2287</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>            Recovery Priority: 5 - Unit actively interfering with Institute operations. Recommended for immediate termination and study if reclaimed.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>            Notes: [2280] Intelligence suggests unit did not undergo memory-wipe from Railroad. Has been trained by Railroad as an operative of their organization. Enhanced strength and speed from maintenance work, trauma from escape attempt and weapons training from Railroad organization has caused G7-81 to be markedly dangerous. [2281] Unit must be marked as EXTREMELY dangerous. With assistance from two other Railroad agents, managed to destroy Courser X1-32.</strong>
</p><p>            “Amazing”. Nora had never gotten much of a chance to meet the famous Railroad agent, only remembering her from her first confrontation with the Railroad and from Deacon’s conversations about her. She wondered how many other synths she’d personally recognize on this list, realizing that she undoubtedly passed by one or two escaped synths in some of her settlements or at larger hubs like Diamond City or Goodneighbor. Switching the list back to alphabetical order, she opened a few more records and found nothing particularly interesting. The sixth record she opened, intending to have it be her last before she went to the café, was an unassuming record labeled “M7-97”. Suddenly she felt a sense of dread overtake her as the face in the photo, much younger than the version of the man she’d met, stared back at her.</p><p>
  <strong>            Unit ID: M7-97</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>            Status: Unit confirmed to have left Commonwealth. Record open for Dr. Zimmer special extraction team only.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>            Assigned Courser: None at this time.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>            Recovery Priority: 1 - General maintenance synth with standard upgrades only. No significant features and reclamation unlikely.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>            Location (last sighting + date): Rivet City, Capital Wasteland, May 15th, 2273</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>            Notes: [2271] Confirmed unit in Railroad custody with no mem-wipe. Last seen at Railroad location ‘Hiawatha’ by infiltrator unit, intelligence suggests this unit is on next ‘caravan’ out of Commonwealth. Viable time to reclaim unit expiring. [2272] Unit identified by Dr. Zimmer while Zimmer attempting to reclaim unit A3-21 in Capital Wasteland. Unit appears to have been mem-wiped since last sighting. Attempted reclamation unsuccessful; unit’s new identity “Saul” has struck up some manner of ‘friendship’ with ex-mercenary. [2273] Per Dr. Zimmer, withdraw reclamation attempts on this unit until further notice. Unit has joined military entity ‘Brotherhood of Steel’ and may be near impossible to collect.</strong>
</p><p> <em>Saul.</em></p><p><em>            Saul Johnfield Danse, Paladin of the Brotherhood of Steel. </em>Danse, having been mem-wiped at some point, had no recollection of what had happened to him when he had <em>really</em> spent all those years alone in the Capital Wasteland <strong><em>because none of it was true, all along</em></strong>.</p><p>            If this news reached him, it would crush him. If it reached the Brotherhood, it would lead to his swift execution, and if it reached the Institute, it would result in his capture. Nora couldn’t bear to think about, Danse, one of her closest friends, having his life stripped away from him and forced back into a general maintenance role in the Institute, or worse, taken apart for study. Telling him would be dangerous in his own right, but <em>not</em> telling him allowed him no opportunity for escape if someone else found out about his true nature first.</p><p>            <em>Oh god, what do I do? </em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A note on synths.</p><p>Supposedly, they are perfect cellular clones of human beings, with some bio-engineered upgrades and a brain implant that can shut them off or reprogram them.</p><p>With this in mind, the game contradicts itself on a functional human being, even a synthetic one, that cannot age, cannot gain weight, cannot reproduce, etc. A couple of things can be realistically bio-engineered (like infertility), and I'm sure that the Institute has ways of controlling aging and weight gain and the like in a controlled environment.</p><p>The Wasteland is not a controlled environment. Synths may be more resilient to age, weight gain, scarring, radiation, etc, but having their biological components be completely invulnerable to everything is a bit ridiculous. It also doesn't do much for the Fallout 4 plot-line that puts Danse as far back into the Brotherhood as the events of Fallout 3 from some of his voice lines....but then this guy doesn't age AT ALL in 10+ years and no one notices?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0035"><h2>35. Tainted Eden</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 35: In which it all starts going to hell.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>TAINTED EDEN</h1><p>
  <em>“Isn’t it lovely, all alone/heart made of glass, my mind of stone/tear me to pieces, skin and bone/hello, welcome home” – Billie Eilish, Khalid, “Lovely”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            In disbelief, Nora turned off her terminal and mechanically removed the RJ-45 cable from both the Pip-Boy and the desk terminal. Tucking the cable into a desk drawer, she stared off into silence wondering what to do next. A knock at her door interrupted her after a moment.</p><p>            “Mother,” Shaun’s voice could be heard outside. “May I come in?” Nora’s eyes flashed on the clock of her Pip-Boy. It was three minutes past six in the morning. Saying politely “just a second,” she stood up uneasily and slowly made her way to the door. Shaun smiled pleasantly at her when his eyes made contact with hers.</p><p>            “You look <em>strange</em>, mother. Are you feeling alright? I had hoped the rest would do you some good…”</p><p>            “Shaun, I rested fine,” she smiled at his reassuringly. Her false expression of happiness faded within a moment; Shaun could see right through that lie.</p><p>            “It wasn’t the rest. The quarters are perfect”.</p><p>            “Then?”</p><p>            “I was just…taking it all in”.</p><p>            “I understand,” he nodded diplomatically. “I know you’re a resilient woman, but this <em>has</em> been a bit of a journey for you. Still, the task I have for you today cannot wait for very long. If you’re going to be remaining within the Institute, it’s only fair that you gain an understanding of how the Institute functions and of the work that we do here. Today, I’m going to ask you to meet with the head of each department in the Institute. They will all be instructed to give you a brief orientation of their department”.</p><p>            “It sounds important, Shaun,” Nora said softly.</p><p>            “It is, so much so that I had actually planned on escorting you to the morning board meeting myself, but I fear that may be a bit too much for you. Don’t be alarmed, mother. Given all you’ve been through, its only natural you may need a bit more time to acclimate before you’re in a position to work with us. I’ll have a Courser escort you around the Institute when you’re ready to begin your orientation. Perhaps we should instead head to the infirmary first and just make sure that you’re feeling alright,” he added worriedly.</p><p>            “I…maybe that <em>would</em> be best,” Nora said. “It <em>has</em> been a long trip”.</p><p>            “I thought so,” Shaun smiled, extending a hand to Nora. “Come with me”. Like a father leading a child, her son walked her carefully down the stairs and to the infirmary. Dr. Volkert was relieving the medical synth on duty and preparing his workstation for the morning as Shaun brought Nora through the eastern entrance.</p><p>            “Director. Ah, I see you’ve brought your mother”.</p><p>            “I’m afraid I can’t stay long, mother, but I’m sure you and Dr. Volkert will manage alone. I’ll send a synth to check up on you. Maybe they should bring you something to eat, mother. I don’t think you’ve had a bite of anything since you’ve arrived”.</p><p>            “Director, I advise your mother to hold off on breakfast,” Dr. Volkert said quickly. “I’d like to do a fasting blood draw”. The doctor looked down at Nora, who had been coaxed to sit on an infirmary bed by Shaun. “I know you’re in remarkably good health, all things considered, but you’ve still been up there for months. Every baseline test I can possibly run, I’m running. We don’t need anything happening to you within days of you making it to the doorstep”.</p><p>            “I understand, Doctor”.</p><p>            “Now, once I’ve collected the blood samples and taken some baseline vitals, I suppose I can send an order to the café to get you a food supplement and a cup of coffee”. The doctor had walked over to a panel on the wall and pushed a button calling a synth attendant. Do you take yours with cream or sweetener?”</p><p>            “Just cream”. Only a moment passed before a Gen-2 synth appeared at the infirmary door. At the synth’s arrival, Shaun nodded at his mother and left the room.</p><p>            “Did you require something?” The mechanical voice asked. Nora felt a bit relieved to see a less human synth, given the circumstances.</p><p>            “N1-54, fetch my patient a package of food supplement 43, one bottle of water, and one cup of coffee with two rations of powdered cream”. The synth looked at Nora for a moment before responding, “directive received: retrieve one package of food supplement 43, one unit of water, one unit of coffee, two units of powdered cream, for entity ‘Mother’, per entity ‘Dr. Volkert’. Confirm request?”</p><p>            “Yes,” the doctor said.</p><p>            “Retrieving requested items,” the synth said, before walking to the atrium and making its way to the café.</p><p>            “Those older models,” Dr. Volkert said, picking up a blood pressure cuff and rolling his eyes. “I think you’ll agree they’re not as impressive as the Gen-3’s?”</p><p>            “They’re definitely something impressive,” Nora murmured quietly. Her arm tingled a bit as Dr. Volkert took her blood pressure. The Dr. looked down at her before asking, “any history of hypertension?”</p><p>            “My mother”.</p><p>            “I meant in you”.</p><p>            “No, Doctor”.</p><p>            “The high blood pressure is a <em>new</em> development then,” Dr. Volkert said, noting his results down on a waiting clipboard.</p><p>            “What is it?”</p><p>            “One forty-five over ninety-two. I guess I should be surprised it’s not <em>higher</em>, given recent events. We’ll monitor it for now and see if it’s something we need to adjust, or if it’s something that a little R&amp;R will clear up. Maybe I’ll ask Father to have you visit Advanced Systems and the SRB tomorrow and just do <em>half</em> your orientation today”.</p><p>            “I…I’m not sure that’ll be necessary”.</p><p>            “Overwork isn’t good for your health, Mo…uh”. He hesitated, unsure what to call her.</p><p>            “Nora is fine”.</p><p>            “I don’t call my patients by their first names. Vault-Tec’s records indicated you were well-educated, but I don’t think it’s customary to confer the title ‘Doctor’ to someone with a background in law. I’d prefer your last name, but I only know your son’s”.</p><p>            “It’s Mulyer”.</p><p>            “Fascinating name. European in origin, I think. I can’t quite identify the placement”.</p><p>            “My husband’s family were German, although they’d been in America for a few generations before he was born. Way back in those days when they first came over, people tended to have their names Americanized. Somewhere along the way, the last name ‘Müller’ became ‘Mulyer’. Of course, it didn’t become my name until I married Shaun’s father. Not that it matters, though. It sounded like <em>you</em> were about to call me <em>mother</em>”.</p><p>            “It’s been…a subject of debate among us since your impending arrival became clear,” Dr. Volkert said pensively. He’d finished taking Nora’s height and weight and looking into her years and down her throat. A synth brought over a phlebotomy kit for the doctor to begin a blood draw. He was donning a fresh set of gloves and grabbing an alcohol swab from his kit as he continued conversing with Nora. “Shaun has been known as <em>Father</em> to all of us since he reached adulthood in the Institute; I think that was about the time that he was made aware of the full extent of his role in the development of the latest synths. Until I became the resident physician, I didn’t really deal too much with him. I’m about ten years older and he worked in different divisions. With him being <em>Father</em> to the synths, I suppose that makes you their grandmother, but calling you <em>Grandmother</em> seems a bit insulting at your biological age”.</p><p>            “For my <em>chronological</em> age, grandmother seems like a compliment,” Nora joked, barely registering the sting in her arm as Dr. Volkert began drawing several vials of blood. She looked up at the ceiling, reflecting on what Dr. Volkert had mentioned about Shaun’s adult life”.</p><p>            “So what division was my son in before he came director?”</p><p>            “Shaun? He had the head to go into anything. Robotics, Advanced Systems. The Synth Retention Bureau, if he wished. Ultimately, he chose the Facilities Division. They do everything related to keeping the Institute inhabitable. You’ll meet with Dr. Filmore later today and she can give you the full details”.</p><p>            As Dr. Volkert finished performing the blood draw, Nora could hear an automated voice from behind her from an older synth.</p><p>            “Request completed: entity ‘Mother’, where would you like the items dispensed?”</p><p>            “Uh…Dr. Volkert?”</p><p>            “Unit, put them on that tray table over there. Mix the creamer into the coffee while I bandage her arm. Mrs. Mulyer, there’s a plastic fork and knife included with the food supplement box”.</p><p>            “Food supplement box?” The synth, with a face like a polished Nick Valentine, gently did as it was instructed and wheeled the tray table to Nora’s reach. Dr. Volkert finished bandaging Nora’s arm and moved several vials of blood to a storage unit at his desk, taking a moment to quickly label each vial ‘N.M’.</p><p>            “Seems like a lot of blood”.</p><p>            “I need to run a <em>lot</em> of tests. You also need to eat. The food supplement I requested was a very specific choice; high calorie, high protein”. Nora carefully opened the food supplement box to find something that looked like cooked cram, a small sauce packet of what could only be assumed to be gravy. A few chopped fruits and vegetables sat off to the side in a makeshift salad, and a small plastic cup contained what looked like some sort of makeshift pudding. Nora took a moment to sample the food that was given to her as she took a sip of the coffee.</p><p>            “It…it’s not the worst thing I tasted”.</p><p>            “The Bioscience division is still trying to work out the flavors of the soy they used in that cutlet”.</p><p>            “Not quite seafood surprise, but it’s better than the last mole rat I had to eat”.</p><p>            “You poor thing,” Dr. Volkert murmured, returning to her from putting the blood samples away. “I don’t mean to rush you, but eat quickly, please. It would be best if you got a haircut before you met with the Directorate, and I’d like to go over a few other medical concerns”.</p><p>            “We can go over the medical stuff while I eat,” Nora said, before increasing her pace to finish the food carton quickly. “What else did you need?”</p><p>            “My last remaining concerns are any major injuries you may have encountered while you were out there. You seem to be in good health, but I notice <em>several</em> scars. I might want to take some X-Rays, but I’d like to know what exactly you went through while you were at the Commonwealth. Any serious injuries?”</p><p>            “Several. Where do I even begin? She thought for a moment before listing out-loud, “nothing but scratches in Concord. I got an infected bite on my arm from a ghoul in Lexington, but the Brotherhood of Steel saw to that. I also got a minor case of mastitis, but they addressed that too”. She rolled up her arm for Dr. Volkert to take a look.</p><p>            “Mastitis?”</p><p>“Way back when I first went to their airship a couple of months ago. Their main doctor caught it before it became bad and administered an antibiotic regimen. I haven’t had any issues with that since”.</p><p>“I’ll address that later. In regards to your arm, they cleared the infection, but that scar is <em>nasty</em>. Unfortunately it looks like an older wound; I could try cosmetic surgery but that may be a lot of trouble for nothing”.</p><p>            “Leave it,” Nora said softly. “Maybe it’ll be something to remember the rest of the world by”.</p><p>            “What other injuries were there?”</p><p>            “A few grazes from bullets…nothing serious. Oh --- Kellogg. He broke my right leg”.</p><p>            “You disappeared from our surveillance for quite some time after Kellogg. The arrival of the Brotherhood of Steel was very distracting. How badly did he break your leg?”</p><p>            “Bad enough. I didn’t face Kellogg alone. I survived only because someone I travelled with took me to a nearby Vault where they could manage the surgery”.</p><p>            “May I see?”</p><p>            “After I finish eating,” Nora said. “I’d have to disrobe, he shot me quite high up”.</p><p>            “Understood. Continue listing your other injuries in the meantime”.</p><p>            “I got radiation poisoning both times I went to the Glowing Sea. The first time it wasn’t so bad; the Brotherhood managed to clean me up. The <em>second</em> time was much more serious. I had a run-in with a Deathclaw and it tore my power armor suit open. I’m amazed it didn’t break both my arms in the process. Again, someone I was travelling with managed to haul me to safety, and the Brotherhood of Steel cleaned me up a second time. Honestly, I still feel a bit sluggish after that second run…”</p><p>            “The blood tests will confirm or deny a couple of suspicions I have about these incidents, but don’t be surprised if I ask Father to delay allowing you back outside for a couple days. I’d like to keep you under observation and see if we need to do a more complete system flush. The Brotherhood’s medical staff are probably skilled as far as those Commonwealth butchers go, but it’s best we give you the full work-up to be safe”. The doctor noticed Nora finish the last bites of her food and move the tray away from herself. He pointed up at his right cheek.</p><p>            “What about your face?” Nora instinctively felt her hand rise up and touch the burn mark which still marked her face. It was the thing that had caused her to change her hairstyle in the first place to the side-shave she now wore that the Institute seemed uncomfortable with.</p><p>            “Oh yeah, <em>that</em>. That was the Courser”.</p><p>            “Father was right, you <em>are</em> resilient. Coursers are typically capable of much more than one bad scar to the side of the face. Seems like your scalp is healing up well enough where a normal hairstyle will one day cover the sides. The <em>front</em> of your face could also use cosmetic surgery --- although it’s a bad enough burn where I wonder if the work I’d have to do is worth the risk”.</p><p>            “Keeping up appearances here is a lot more important than in the Commonwealth, huh?”</p><p>            “Such injuries are not as common here as in the Commonwealth. Your appearance may distress some of our younger citizens”.</p><p>            “Any other options at not distressing them besides going at my face and arm with a scalpel in the name of good looks?”</p><p>            “I suppose I could give you some Vitamin D cream. It won’t make the scars go away completely, but it will help with the healing. Honestly, I’d reserve that option for your face, since that wound is fairly recent. Besides that…maybe one of the ladies at the beauty parlor can recommend makeup. It’s probably been a long time since you’ve worn makeup at all, hasn’t it?”</p><p>            “Cosmetics are still around in the Commonwealth,” Nora mused, thinking of Goodneighbor. “…their use seems more <em>specialized</em> though”. She rose from the bed carefully. Dr. Volkert afforded her a moment of privacy, drawing a curtain, so she could adjust her jumper to reveal the surgery scars on her right leg. Laying back down in the bed and covering the rest of her body with the sheet, she alerted Dr. Volkert to the fact that she was ready to be seen. He looked at her leg in horror.</p><p>            “Dear god. I’m glad they managed to line the leg up right and make such clean incisions, but that’s a <em>bad</em> break. I’m surprised you aren’t limping”.</p><p>            “I was for a while. I guess I adjusted to it before I made it this far. Sometimes I still have to take a Stimpak for the pain, but it’s pretty much healed”.</p><p>            “I don’t think so. That leg alone requires me to withhold you from returning to the surface for at least one more day so I can conduct X-Rays and detailed assessments. I think it best you be taken to the various division offices in a wheelchair, just to be safe”.</p><p>“A <em>wheelchair?</em> I made it all the way here without one. Dr. Volkert, I know I’m an old woman but I’m not an invalid”.</p><p>“You’re not an invalid, but <em>I’m</em> a physician. I’d strongly recommend you not put any further stress on yourself until I’m able to medically confirm that you’re healed”.</p><p>            “The surgery was in a <em>Vault</em>, Doctor. I know it’s no Institute, but it’s probably the next best thing”.</p><p>            “The <em>next </em>best thing and the best thing are not the same thing”. He pointed to her shirt. “Your chest?” At his behest, Nora loosened the top of her jumper.</p><p>            “I told you, they already got it”. He examined her for a moment before offering a ‘hmph’ in begrudging agreement.</p><p>            “Yes, it seems they have. I can cross that off of my list of concerns. Now, about that chair…”</p><p>            “<em>I’ve got a busy day ahead of me, </em>Doctor. Besides, if we’re talking about keeping up appearances, I probably shouldn’t be approaching the Directorate with anything but my best”. Dr. Volkert sighed.</p><p>            “Fine. Father wants you to go to the various divisions with a Courser, though. If you start showing signs of medical infirmity, I’m having that Courser override you and <em>drag</em> you back to this infirmary if necessary”.</p><p>            “I’ll be careful. I’m just…” she reflected on all Knight-Captain Cade’s poking and prodding within the Brotherhood of Steel. “I’m tired of being <em>fussed</em> over”.</p><p>            “That reminds me, I should have realized that you’re likely suffering a great deal of psychological trauma,” Dr. Volkert said. He exited from the confines of the privacy curtain, allowing Nora to dress herself again before she got out of bed and approached him. He was writing several notes on his clipboard furiously.</p><p>            “I want to address your physical trauma first, but eventually we’re going to want to address all the psychological trauma as well. There’s a <em>lot</em> that we’ll have to unpack, for the sake of your own sanity”.</p><p>            “You’re probably right about that,” Nora said softly.</p><p>            “I’m glad to see you’re not totally obstinate,” the doctor nodded. “Do what you need to do, but take it <em>easy</em>. If you need a break, take one. <em>I’ll</em> deal with Director Grayson on your behalf if you fall behind schedule. Start with the hair salon. You can go right through the atrium to get to it. I’ll have the synth come in a little early for you”.</p><p>            Nora made her way to the hair salon and waited just outside the door. The Courser who was assigned to her for the day arrived before the hairdresser synth.</p><p>            “X6-88 reporting for duty, ma’am”. Nora recognized the Courser as being the same one who’d been in Kellogg’s memories handing him the report on Brian Virgil.</p><p>            “Oh, er…hello,” she said nervously. The only Courser she’d been close to before this had tried to kill her and entire squadron of people working with her. Seeing one wait on her like a glorified attendant was slightly unnerving.</p><p>            “Doctor Volkert and the Director have informed me that I’m to escort you around the Institute and intervene if there’s an emergency”.</p><p>            “Right. Well, right now, I’m just waiting on that haircut”.</p><p>            “I see,” X6 said blankly. “It would appear the unit assigned this task hasn’t arrived with due diligence”.</p><p>            “I <em>am</em> here before salon hours. I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding”.</p><p>            “If you say so, ma’am”. A synth arrived a moment later and gave Nora a look of alarm upon seeing X6-88 standing next to her.</p><p>            “I’m just needing a haircut,” Nora said quickly. “Nothing serious”.</p><p>            “Of course Mother,” the synth hastily opened the door and coaxed Nora into the barber chair.</p><p>            “Just a hair wash and a trim, then? Er…there’s not a lot of hair on the right side”.</p><p>            “I just need to look presentable for the Directorate”. Nora could sense that the Courser was making the synth particularly nervous. “Er…C7-01, was it? As long as I look presentable, do whatever you feel is best”.</p><p>            “Synths don’t <em>feel</em>,” X6-88 advised Nora. “If you want the hairdresser unit to understand your query, you need to give it a more complete command. Otherwise, we’ll be here all day”. Nora cocked an eyebrow and looked up at C7-01, who seemed as though she <em>wanted</em> to make a suggestion but couldn’t.</p><p>            “It’s been a <em>long</em> time since I’ve had my hair styled, X6, and fixing a hasty side-shave is a bit of a tall order…<em>hey</em>. I know. Surely you must have some kind of reference book with different hairstyles I can use? For guidance”.</p><p>            “Of course Mother,” C7-01 responded again, finding a book of hairstyles and handing it to Nora after opening it carefully to the women’s section. The Institute seemed to prefer utilitarian or pre-War grooming standards. Nora spotted one style that seemed workable considering her current hairstyle and pointed at it so that C7-01 could see. It wasn’t a hairstyle she particularly wanted, but making C7-01’s job easier was a higher priority than anything else considering that X6-88 was staring at her so aggressively.</p><p>            “This one here, but make it an undercut. Shave the sides and bottom. I can tie the longer part at the top into a bun while the rest grows in and make it look neat for the Directorate”.</p><p>            “Understood mother. Excuse me for just a moment. I need to get the clippers”.</p><p>            “Unit,” X6 began, “why didn’t you have those ready before you began work?”</p><p>            Nora answered for C7. “X6, clippers aren’t necessary for women’s hairstyles. Because half my head is shaved, I had to choose a hairstyle that’s typically only for men, so she had to switch her kit to what she would use for a man”. C7 nodded in agreement anxiously and seemed relieved to notice X6 accepting the answer.</p><p>            “Very well. Proceed”. In such a way that he couldn’t see it, Nora glanced over at C7-01 and gave her a quick wink. Reassured, the synth unit put on a plastic smile and calmly began shaving the sides and back of Nora’s hair. Once the shave was complete, she washed the remaining hair and styled the longer part of Nora’s hair at the top into a short, neat bun.</p><p>            “My apologies, mother. Your requested hairstyle doesn’t hide the scar”.</p><p>            “I’m not worried about the scar. You did a fantastic job, C7”. As Nora rose from her chair and informed X6-88 that it was time to begin meeting with the Directorate, she noticed C7 mouth out the words ‘thank you’. Walking out of the salon with X6-88 asking her where she preferred to start, Nora felt a tinge of pain in her heart at how inhumanly the woman had been treated.</p><p>            <em>You see a woman</em>. Nate’s voice had returned to her momentarily. <em>They see a robot.</em></p><p>            “Ma’am, which division do you prefer?”</p><p>            “Oh, sorry X6. Felt a bit tired for a moment. Why don’t we start at Facilities? I hear it’s where my son began his career”.</p><p>            “Excellent choice,” the Courser said coldly.</p><p>#</p><p>            Institute uniforms were apparently color-coded. Advanced Systems wore lab coats with blue trim. Bioscience used green trim. Robotics used an orange color. Auxiliary personnel, children, and Nora all had Institute clothes with gray coloring on them. The SRB used black trim, while the Facilities division used yellow. Most Institute personnel had the colored parts of their attire reserved to their arms, with auxiliary personnel also having more gray in their uniforms towards the torso. Heads of a specific division of the Institute had lab coats that were predominantly the color of their specified division, marking them apart from the rest of the Institute. This color-coding scheme made Allie Filmore, head of the Facilities division, very easy to find.</p><p>            Apparently, Allie had just picked up the position from Shaun a few years ago. Nora tried to envision a younger Shaun in white and yellow lab-coats, working his way up the chain of command in the Institute and growing older in different variations of the uniform. Dr. Filmore spoke <em>highly</em> of Shaun, praising his accomplishments and speaking highly of her time under his mentorship when she’d first joined the division. In between explaining the delicacies of her division’s work to keep the Institute running at such a high standard of living, Allie stopped to ask Nora a question.</p><p>            “When Father told us about you, I could hardly believe it. You’ve been through so much, I think most people would have just given up. If you don’t mind my asking, what was it that kept you going all that time?”</p><p>            “Isn’t it obvious?” Nora asked. “I just wanted to find my son and keep him safe”.</p><p>            “Well, now that you found him,” Allie smiled softly, “I hope you’re proud of the great man he grew up to be. I have a child too, you know. His name is Quentin. He gets into a lot of trouble around here, but I hope some day that inquisitiveness will do great things for the Institute too”.</p><p>            “Did you…<em>know</em> Shaun, growing up?”</p><p>            “Not as a child. He’s a bit older than I am. When I first got to the division, Shaun took me under his wing. I’ve always felt so <em>grateful</em> to him, y’know? Though…it never seemed he quite felt the same way”.</p><p>            <em>It’s weird to think of Shaun as a young man, attracting attention from girls. I missed so much…</em></p><p>            Allie had been working on a control panel near the Synth Retention Bureau’s entrance, so X6-88 escorted her up the stairs to the SRB once her meeting with Facilities. A seedy-looking man by the name of Justin Ayo was the doctor in charge of the SRB, taking the title of acting Director in the place of one Dr. Zimmer. Nora recognized that name as being the same name on the special retrieval unit that had been posted many years ago to find Danse, but said nothing.</p><p>            “I’m going to be up front with you. We’re going to be keeping a close eye on you in the near future. Despite your close relation to Father, you’re a bit of an unknown quantity. I’m sure you understand. There won’t be any issues, will there?”</p><p>            <em>Good to know.</em></p><p>“I understand,” Nora said pleasantly, putting on the lawyer’s voice. “Honestly, I appreciate your directness on the matter. I haven’t seen a lot of that around here”.</p><p>            “I have no room for pleasantries,” Dr. Ayo remarked, “though I will say that as long as you <em>don’t</em> cause any issues for me, we may actually have pleasantries in the future. Now, Father has asked that I provide you with a brief overview of the Synth Retention Bureau. Our main instrument is the Courser, a third-generation synth assigned to operate on the surface. Not including the one standing right behind you, you’ve dealt with them before. In fact, I’d very much like to know how you defeated it”.</p><p>            “I’ll be up front with you too, Doctor Ayo. I got lucky”.</p><p>            “That’s hardly helpful”.</p><p>            “It’s the truth. I had a small platoon with me and your Courser made us look like idiots. It took a Brotherhood of Steel Paladin surprising him from behind with a gatling laser <em>and</em> a sharp-shooter with a high caliber weapon to do the job, <em>while</em> that Courser was simultaneously focused on seven or eight other people including myself. Does <em>that</em> help?”</p><p>            “It’s better, but not by much. I suppose I’ll have to ask Robotics to run detailed diagnostics on the entire upcoming production run, like we don’t already have enough problems. Anyway, it would seem you <em>are</em> telling me the truth”. He went on to talk about the importance of synth retrieval and the fact that the SRB were responsible for determining why synths sought to escape the Institute.</p><p>            “Why would you be so concerned with synths wanting to leave?” Nora asked innocently. Dr. Ayo answered her with a scowl. “Synths do not <em>want</em>. They might look like human beings, but they are machines. As to <em>why</em> they’re escaping, that matter is currently under investigation. We can’t allow such sophisticated technology to fall into the wrong hands”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Alan Binet and Clayton Holdren of the Robotics and Bioscience Divisions were pleasant enough to deal with, providing Nora with brief orientations of their two departments before Nora decided that a break would be necessary before stopping at Advanced Systems for her final appointment.</p><p>            “Perfectly acceptable, ma’am. Doctor Volkert predicted you would show signs of fatigue quicker than you actually have. It’s interesting to note that he seems to have under-estimated you. Should I escort you to the infirmary?”</p><p>            “No,” Nora declined, taking a moment to sit on one of the benches outside of Advanced Systems. The little park in the center of the atrium was a nice spot to rest. “I’m not <em>that</em> tired, but I ought to rest for a few minutes before I continue working. This is a lot to take in”. Alan Binet had talked her ear off, having been the only one of the Directorate she’d met so far to have known Shaun as a little boy. Apparently, the two had been reasonably close, taking lessons at the same time in the Institute’s classrooms, with Shaun even tutoring Alan on certain subjects. The pain of realizing all the lost moments she should have had with Shaun hurt her more than anything else. Nora wondered how much psychological therapy she’d need from Dr. Volkert she’d need to recover from that pain, or if she’d even get it with the Brotherhood of Steel knocking on the door.</p><p>            It wasn’t just the Brotherhood of Steel that were concerning. The Institute itself seemed to be the biggest problem, running experiments that involved replacing people in the Commonwealth for their own selfish needs. The more Nora travelled around the Institute, the more she questioned why the Institute couldn’t have either kept their good fortune to themselves or shared it with the rest of the Commonwealth. It had potential to truly live up to Shaun’s claims of being humanity’s best hope for the future, but she couldn’t deny the fact that for the surface world, they’d been nothing but the opposite. Her mind flashed back to the desolation caused at University Point --- Shaun had been Director when the massacre had happened, which meant that he not only knew about the settlement, but more than likely ordered the destruction himself.</p><p>            <em>Who did you really grow up to become, Shaun? If that’s even you.</em></p><p>            Brushing off her worries and feeling a bit more relaxed, she rose from the bench and nodded at X6-88 that she was ready to head to Advanced Systems. The Courser led her up the stairs to the office of one Madison Li: the same woman that Nora had been asked to recruit for the Brotherhood by Elder Maxson.</p><p>            “Dr. Li may become more difficult to work with if I accompany you into her private laboratory,” X6-88 warned her. “She’s never been particularly fond of SRB personnel and Courser units. I can accompany you if you wish, or remain outside. I leave the decision up to you”.</p><p>            “Maybe it’s best you wait out here,” Nora said smoothly. “I’ll see if I can charm her into being quick”.</p><p>            “Our intelligence suggests you may be capable of such a feat. Very well, ma’am. I’ll be waiting”. Nora entered the lab quietly to see Dr. Li towards the back of the room, typing away on a terminal.</p><p>            “Oh, it’s you,” Dr. Li said blankly as the door closed behind Nora. “You’re not authorized to be here”.</p><p>            “I wasn’t aware I needed authorization for this meeting,” Nora said simply.</p><p>            “Father may have given you the keys to the castle,” Dr. Li said sharply, “but this is still <em>my</em> private laboratory. If you plan to stay with us down here, you’re going to need to learn some basic manners”.</p><p>            <em>Somehow I doubt you went to charm school yourself, lady</em>, Nora thought to herself as she focused on how to deal with this conversation quickly. X6-88 was waiting outside. Much to her surprise, Dr. Li continued the conversation first, pulling Nora close to her and whispering softly, “<em>don’t play stupid”.</em></p><p>“A Brotherhood airship shows up in the Commonwealth, you find a way to intercept our teleporter signal, and now you’re at my door. I did some pretty sensitive work for the Brotherhood of Steel. Tell me one good reason I shouldn’t assume you’re here to cause problems for me”.</p><p>            “If I <em>wanted</em> to cause problems for you, there wouldn’t be a Courser sitting outside waiting for me”.</p><p>            “Well, I suppose that’s a start, ‘mother’. Now, what do you want from me?”</p><p>            “Two things. One, and this more my son than me, I’m to get oriented with your department”.</p><p>            “Dr. Evan Watson can do that for you”.</p><p>            “I’m to get oriented with your department <em>via the department’s head</em>”.</p><p>            “And the department head, me, is delegating this responsibility lower down the chain. Don’t worry: <em>I’ll</em> deal with Father so you two don’t have a familial spat. Now, what’s item two on the list?”</p><p>            “The Brotherhood want your help, Doctor Li,” Nora whispered.</p><p>            “My help? Why? They seemed to have everything under control when I left”.</p><p>            “Elder Maxson wasn’t super clear on the details”.</p><p>            “He’s <em>Elder, </em>now? Bit of a step-up from what he was when I was around. You’re <em>new</em> to the Brotherhood, aren’t you? Word of advice, I left the Brotherhood because of the lack of transparency. Somehow I doubt that little brainwashed boy runs the show much better than his predecessors. He’s going to have to do a lot to win me back”.</p><p>            “Fair,” Nora said. “I have my disagreements with the Brotherhood too. Tell me though, Dr., do you really think the Institute are any more transparent?”</p><p>            “You’ve been here a <em>day</em>”.</p><p>            “You’ve been here for longer, so you’d know more than I do. Also, <em>my </em>doctorate was in Law”. Nora felt herself become a bit more intimidating as she continued, “Now, I might not so good at the scientific side of things, but I can tell damn well you’re avoiding my question. I just want to know if you feel the same way about the Institute when it comes to transparency”.</p><p>            “…truthfully,” Dr. Li muttered, “…I don’t think I get the full story on everything that happens here. I’m surrounded by cutting-edge technology and some of the brightest minds in the world. All those people up there, and I feel like I could be working on something less selfish than the Institute’s ends. Something that would make life better for everyone…”</p><p>            “I guess if the Brotherhood don’t work out for you, you can always join the Minutemen?” Nora asked seriously. Dr. Li let out an audible laugh in response. Nora rolled her eyes and asked simply, “<em>anyway</em>, why do you feel that way, doctor?”</p><p>            “Finally, someone asks the real questions. I had a colleague here by the name of Dr. Brian Virgil. He was killed a few months ago in his lab; there was an accident. I wanted to help with the experiment, but Father had the lab sealed saying there it was contaminated. Something about the whole thing never sat right with me, and I’ve never been able to squeeze a solid answer out of your son. Here’s the deal, bring me solid information on what killed him and we’ll co-operate. Deal?”</p><p>            “Deal,” Nora said plainly, hiding her astonishment at the fact that Shaun had so blatantly <em>lied</em> to Dr. Li.</p><p>            “Now,” Madison Li changed the subject, figuring that the Courser outside would need to be appealed to. “I’ve taken up enough of your time. Forget what I said about Evan Watson. Advanced Systems handles anything that doesn’t fall specifically within the realm of the other divisions of the Institute. You could think of us as ‘special projects’ if you will. Improving weapon designs for Coursers, testing out theoretical models for reactor power or synth variants; that’s all us. The details would likely be lost on you, but I’m only expected to give you the synopsis, and that’s a brief synopsis right there. I assume a doctorate in Law means you have the intelligence to understand that much, right?”</p><p>            “Obviously,” Nora said, not attempting to hide her annoyance at being belittled. “Give me some credit; I did help build a working relay signal hijacker”.</p><p>            “Which Father had to have us calibrate the relay signal for, specially. <em>But</em>, I suppose for someone with no background in science, that’s actually an accomplishment. Maybe we’ll see some use out of you yet. I need you to hold out your arm with your Pip-Boy on it. Father wants me to install a Courser chip for you”.</p><p>            “A Courser chip?”</p><p>            “Yep. Don’t worry, I’m tucking it away from where prying eyes can see. You’re to be given full access to the relay, hence the use of the chip. I hope you realize how much of a privilege that is”.</p><p>            <em>At least I know I’m not going to be a hostage here</em>. A few moments of tinkering on Dr. Li’s part saw the successful installation of the chip unto Nora’s Pip-Boy.</p><p>            “That should do it then. We have nothing else to talk about until you tell me what happened to Virgil. Now, I’d tell you to be quiet about it, but discretion isn’t the strong suit of the Brotherhood. Just remember that if you get caught, we never had this conversation”. With that, Nora was ushered out of the laboratory and back under the watchful eyes of X6-88.</p><p>            “I heard laughing,” he said ominously. “She laughed so loudly that I could hear it while waiting for you here on the other side of the room. How did you manage that?”</p><p>            “I’m full of surprises,” Nora joked.</p><p>            “Hopefully, none of your surprises are going to be a problem for the Institute. However, I will admit that I’m impressed to see someone manipulate someone as obstinate as Doctor Li without threats or intimidation. Perhaps someday I’ll ask you to demonstrate this ability to me”.</p><p>            “Maybe someday, X6”. His last job with her under his wing was to escort her back to Father’s office so that the Director could debrief with his mother. After allowing her to rejoin with Father, the Courser bid Nora a curt “good day” and returned to the SRB. Father offered Nora a bottle of water as he gestured out at his balcony. His suite offered once of the best views of the Institute: a fitting benefit of being the Director.</p><p>            “Now that you’ve had a chance to get acquainted with us, tell me, what do you think?”</p><p>            “I have to admit Shaun,” Nora said diplomatically. “There’s a lot to take in. I can’t say I’ve formed a full opinion yet”.</p><p>            “That’s a perfectly understandable answer, mother. This must all still be so new to you. Dr. Volkert informs me that he’d like you to return to the infirmary after you’ve eaten a good meal. Your blood work still shows some lingering effects from the radiation you incurred at the Glowing Sea, and he’s also worried about a leg injury you sustained from Kellogg. He’d like to run X-Rays”.</p><p>            “He told me. I’ll get something to eat and stop back over there”.</p><p>            “Before you do, I have news for you. Remember that I mentioned that I’d like to discuss what <em>we</em> can do to benefit humanity. I’m not sure you fully understand the consequences of what happens when our work goes awry. To that end, I’d like you to personally oversee an above-ground operation for us. Obviously, I’m willing to suspend this operation until Dr. Volkert has confirmed that you’re feeling better. Hopefully I’ll only need to keep your new Courser chip deactivated for a day”.</p><p>            “An above-ground operation, Shaun?”</p><p>            “You’ve been in contact with the Brotherhood and the Railroad; now of course I understand that such contacts were a necessary part of you reaching us after the complications that arose with Kellogg. With that being said, I’m sure you’ve seen their radical ideologies when it comes to our technology. For now, we’ll ignore the Brotherhood and address the consequences of the Railroad’s work above the surface. Ultimately, all of our knowledge and resources are focused on a single goal, best summarized by our motto: mankind, redefined. Unfortunately no advancements come without occasional setbacks. As remarkable as they may be, our synths can be dangerous without proper supervision. In their misguided attempts to ‘free’ the synths, the Railroad have allowed our technology to, as the Brotherhood say, ‘run amok’ on the surface”.</p><p>            “If the synths are as intelligent and self-aware as you say, Shaun, why wouldn’t allowing them free-will be beneficial for them? Imagine how much good they could do working alongside you rather than under you”.</p><p>            “That is not their place, mother,” Shaun said concerningly. He walked to a table with some paperwork on it and picked up a file to hand Nora. “However closely they approximate human behavior, they are still our creations. I <em>can</em> understand your viewpoint; the question of how much autonomy a synth should have is a divisive political issue even here in the Institute. When you do see what I have to show you, however, I think you’ll come to understand <em>my </em>viewpoint that in the end, we know what’s best for our synths”.</p><p>            Nora took the file from Shaun and saw a picture of a grimy raider with long blonde hair, far from anything she’d seen within the Institute. The surveillance photo appeared to have been taken from an aerial perspective, with the raider standing on the desk of a huge, partially sunken freighter. Nora remembered seeing a ship graveyard on the horizon when she looked out of the window of the Prydwen’s command deck.  She looked down at the file on the synth as Shaun explained the mission parameters to her.</p><p>            “A rogue synth has taken over the raider gang at Libertalia. His memories have been erased and identity altered by the Railroad. He now believes he is a man by the name of Gabriel. Under his leadership, the raiders have taken many innocent lives. I have no doubt that you have personal affairs on the surface you must return to once you’ve been medically cleared to do so, and I have no intention of stopping you so long as your actions do not impede the Institute. However, I must ask that you seek B5-92 out while you’re up there and return him to the Institute. We’ll have a Courser on standby to assist you when you are ready to undertake this operation. Killing B5-92 would be a waste of valuable synthetic resources, so ensure you bring him back alive; the Courser will have details on how this can be accomplished. Now, I believe Dr. Volkert is waiting on you”.</p><p>#</p><p>            In consideration of the fact that Nora had not been eating properly, the Gen-2 synth manning the café dispensary allotted her two food supplement kits instead of one. Dr. Volkert later explained that this was an essential part of the treatment that he had put together for her as he performed an X-Ray of Nora’s right leg and went over the results with her.</p><p>            “The Vault physicians did a remarkable job with your leg given the limited resources that they must have had available to them. I’ll admit I underestimated the level of physical care they could provide for you. However, there’s no denying that we can do better. Since surgery is likely to be more of a hindrance than a boon for you at this rate, I’ve instead prepared a modified version of a Courser’s Stimpak. These injections allow for rapid cellular regeneration at a rate far beyond the standard Stimpak, so your leg will be healed much quicker than if I were to administer a standard course of treatment, surgery, and rehabilitation. You should only need a day”.</p><p>            “I’m impressed you haven’t given these out to everyone in the Institute,” Nora marveled.</p><p>            “I can’t. These modified Stimpaks don’t include any pain medication since Coursers typically use them in the middle of an engagement. I wouldn’t want to dull their senses while they’re in the middle of an operation. While I imagine you have a higher pain tolerance than most Institute personnel, I doubt it matches up to the nervous system on a genetically modified, top of the line Courser. I didn’t want to torture you, so I lowered the potency. This brings down the expected rate of healing from several seconds to approximately a day, but I’ll also be giving you an IV of pain medication to combat the side effects. All that extra food you ate should allow your body to have some extra material to repair the damage with rapidly. In your other arm, I’m going to need to put you on a blood transfusion for anemia. Assuming all goes well, you’re clear to leave the Institute tomorrow morning. Now, go ahead and lie in that bed there, and we’ll start our series of injections”</p><p>            By the time he was done, she felt like a pin-cushion. Her leg ached considerably as the Courser Stimpak took hold and forced the remaining cracks in her leg to heal properly. The pain medication in her right arm took effect a few minutes later, making the ordeal a bit easier and causing her to drift off into a light sleep. When she awoke a few hours later, the Institute was beginning to transition into quiet hours. Dr. Volkert was leaving his office for the night.</p><p>            “Oh, you’re awake. I figured I’d let you rest, so I removed the IV’s from your arms while you slept. As long as you can walk, M1-43 will handle your discharge from the infirmary. Are you able to move alright?” Nora answered his question by slowly moving out of bed and standing on both legs, then walking, then <em>running</em>. There was no residual pain, no hesitation, no <em>nothing</em> except the remaining surgery scars on her leg. Satisfied, Dr. Volkert took his leave while M1-43 ran a few other tests on her and then allowed her to leave the infirmary.</p><p>            The Institute left the division doors open even during the night so that scientists who were working late could access their projects. Nora found herself thinking of Dr. Li and Dr. Virgil as she approached the Bioscience entrance and looked around. Only one doctor remained on duty in the Bioscience division, working overtime and paying no attention to Nora as she focused intently on a batch of what appeared to be romaine lettuce. As luck would have it, a giant dividing panel in the middle of the Biosciene lab obscured Nora from being immediately within the scientist’s line of sight as the General made her way to the entrance of the FEV laboratory. The master entrance was blocked by a set of laser tripwires rather than a physical door. The tripwires were controlled by a wall-mounted terminal sitting by the doorframe. Nora made a note of its location as she left the Bioscience lab and returned to her quarters, retrieving the RJ-45 cable from her desk drawer and calling a synth attendant to her room.</p><p>            “Yes mother?” This Gen-3 unit, with the appearance of a young male not unlike Preston, awaited her command.</p><p>            “L4-87,” Nora asked politely, “would you be so kind as to get me some blank holo-tapes? I’d like to download some music from the Institute mainframe to tapes for my Pip-Boy for when I’m away”.</p><p>            “Of course, mother”. The synth was diligent, returning after only a couple of minutes with a package of thirty tapes. Nora’s desk had already been furnished with some notebooks, labels, pens, and pencils. Once the synth was gone, Nora locked the door and turned her radio to the Classical music station, allowing the sounds of Camille Saint-Saëns’ <em>“The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods”</em> to give any passer-by the impression that she was relaxing and not to be disturbed. Searching through the Institute’s mainframe with her Pip-Boy attached, she found an unencrypted database of all the music that they broadcasted to the radio. Before long, she’d downloaded several tracks from Claude Debussy, Edvarg Grieg, Frédéric Chopin, and several others on the track record. A few tapes were intentionally left blank, and one tape, labelled as <em>The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods</em>, was relegated for downloading the Institute’s record of synths. Liam’s programs came with a feature to allow her to toggle between searching the Institute’s records with her own terminal ID or with a spoofed address, and she was careful to check the records of access to ensure that her download of the database appeared on access records as [REDACTED]. To be <em>extra</em> careful to cover her tracks, she mislabeled another tape as <em>The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Wood</em> and downloaded the relevant song to that tape with her terminal ID visible. Finally, she packed that particular tape with her Vault Suit, purposefully leaving it away from the drawer of holo-tapes forming an unassuming looking music library. Most of the Institute seemed to underestimate her intelligence, but in doing so, they didn’t seem to realize that years of legal study and working under lawyers made her acutely aware of <em>how</em> to hide evidence. If anyone came knocking, as long as they didn’t attempt to <em>play</em> the tape, she could just brush off her mistake as a slip of the mind.</p><p>            <em>Besides, I like this song. Why not take it with me? </em>She decided to leave the database tape in the Institute for now, knowing full well that when she departed the Institute, the Brotherhood would find her before the Railroad. She could always relay <em>back</em> to the Institute and give the Railroad their tape later, but where the Brotherhood were involved, she could not risk them finding any record of Danse on the mainframe. Keeping her Pip-Boy hooked up to the terminal and switching her access back to [REDACTED], she went into the mainframe files and deleted the database entirely, searching quickly through the mainframe for anything else that could endanger an innocent on the surface. Feeling satisfied with her work and finding nothing else of immense concern, she used the Network Scanner holotape to create the Brotherhood’s copy of the Institute files before sneakily adding the database back into the Institute’s mainframe via the first tape she’d made. Once she’d finished this task, she kept the Brotherhood’s tape stored away in her Pip-Boy while searching through a list of master passwords for the access code to the laser grid that stood between her and the FEV lab.</p><p>            <em>Discretion may not be the Brotherhood’s specialty, Dr. Li, but I’m also the Negotiator and the General of the Minutemen.</em> Memorizing the access codes, she switched her access back to her regular terminal ID and downloaded two more songs before stepping out of her terminal and taking a long, slow walk around the Institute. When questioned by Coursers or synths, she remarked that she was simply enjoying the fresh air and had already slept in the infirmary. Once it became clear that she had satisfied the Institute enough to where watching eyes looked away, she slowly made her way back into the Bioscience lab and spent a few minutes marveling at their synthetic gorillas.</p><p>            “Ma’am?” A Gen-3 synth remained in the lab, moving cleaning supplies in and out of a maintenance closet.</p><p>            “I haven’t seen a gorilla since 2075,” Nora joked. It <em>was</em> true. That year, she’d gone to the zoo with an old friend as part of an excursion.</p><p>            “Dr. Holdren does some remarkable work,” the synth stated. “It must be fascinating to see all that the Institute has to offer. Did you need any assistance?”</p><p>            “No. I just wanted to take a moment and admire them”.</p><p>            “I’ll leave you to it, ma’am”. Once the synth was firmly gone from the room, Nora quickly made her way to the FEV terminal, ensured no one was watching, and logged into the terminal. Turning the laser grid back on behind her, she walked into the FEV lab to see what insights she could get find as to what had caused Virgil to leave the Institute. The place seemed like a veritable heaven on earth, and yet so many things were out of place. As the contents of the FEV lab came into view, Nora felt the proverbial rug be ripped out from under her. The lab contained numerous wrecked testing tubes. Several <em>super mutants</em> remained in the intact chambers, floating in statis. Dr. Virgil had mentioned working on a cure for the FEV virus that plagued the Commonwealth super mutants, and this led to Nora trying to justify the lab’s continued presence as some kind of effort to one day resume work on such a task. A terrible voice in the back of her head whispered warnings of Nora potentially being <em>wrong; </em>but if that were true, what else would it mean other than Shaun being party to truly disturbing measures of evil?</p><p>            Virgil’s experimental serum was located in a holding tube on one of the tables. Nora removed the serum from its compartment and tucked it into the largest pockets of her jumper. Feeling the urge to investigate, she noticed a few holo-tapes sitting on a table.</p><p>            <em>Year 2178 Bioscience Report. Year 2224 Bioscience Report. </em>The report from 2178 indicated only that the Institute had someone gotten their hands on FEV samples. The nervous tone from the reporting doctor, now long dead, seemed to indicate that this somehow meant <em>live super mutants</em>. Looking back at the super mutants sitting in stasis in their testing tubes, Nora changed to the tape dated 2224, just three years before Shaun had been taken by the Institute.</p><p>            “<em>I am officially echoing the team’s position: the most likely progress for our research on synthetic organics requires new avenues of exploration. Additional Commonwealth subjects will not help. It’s the same problem across the board: exposure to too much radiation. We need something…someone new. There’s a proposal that we’ll be putting forward. I’m not entirely comfortable with it, but it seems like the best course</em>”.</p><p>            Synthetic organics: this lab wasn’t meant to <em>cure</em> FEV; it was meant to modify it into a workable method of making synths. When that failed, the Institute somehow found out about Vault 111 and came for Shaun. Horrified and sickened by the level of selfishness on display, Nora found herself examining the lab for more information. Another holotape came into view on a different table, this one labeled <em>Brian Virgil Personal Log 0176</em>.</p><p>            “<em>…We’ve learned nothing useful in the last ten years; why does Father insist on continuing it? If he won’t see reason, then I have to take matters into my own hands…</em>”.</p><p>            “What were you <em>really </em>doing down here after you got Shaun, Institute?” Nora whispered, looking for more holo-tapes but finding nothing. Her attention turned to a terminal on one of the desk, which happened to be unsecured. The terminal included a list of the various test subjects contained in the FEV lab.</p><p>            <strong>Subject CM-151. Baseline: male, mid-30s, poor overall health. Post-submersion results: Consistent with standard results. Status: DISCARDED.</strong></p><p><em>Discarded. They turned a man in poor health into a super-mutant for no good reason and then they killed him.</em> A dreadful pit developed in Nora’s stomach as she realized that there was no justifying what Shaun was complicit in, no matter how hard she tried. Shaun’s talk about bettering humanity’s future only included whatever menial developments made life better for those underground. How many other people had the Institute kidnapped from the Commonwealth as lab-rats for their own personal gain?</p><p>            <strong>Subject CF-224. Baseline: female, late-30s, moderate overall health. Post-submersion results: Initially consistent with standard results. Rapid decline in physical condition. Status: DECEASED.</strong></p><p>
  <strong>            Subject CM-153. Baseline: male, early-30s, moderate overall health. Post-submersion results: Physical condition consistent with standard results. Mental acuity charting slightly higher than average. Status: TAGGED, DISCARDED.</strong>
</p><p>She stopped reading. Discarded didn’t mean <em>killed</em>. It meant <em>returned to the Commonwealth. </em>For all Shaun’s talk of not wanting to let Institute technology run amok on the surface --- not wanting to impact <em>innocent </em>lives --- here he was condoning what he said he would prevent. In horror, she wandered back to the entrance of the FEV lab, mechanically turning the laser grid on and off as she left the lab with Virgil’s cure and holo-tape. It took a thorough search of the residential towers before she found Dr. Li’s apartment. An annoyed doctor opened the door and stared back at her.</p><p>            “Don’t you know it’s almost nine in the evening? I need to start work on several projects tomorrow”.</p><p>            “You need to fix my Pip-Boy,” Nora said covertly. “The Courser chip isn’t in right”.</p><p>            “That’s impossible. I installed it myse—” a look of realization crossed Dr. Li’s face as she saw the thousand-yard stare Nora was giving her.</p><p>            “…you found a problem”.</p><p>            “Yes”.</p><p>            “Show me”. Dr. Li had no family, but her apartment was quite spacious. Nora wondered how much work she’d committed to the Institute in the time that she’d been here to be afforded an apartment that was usually reserved for families. Putting her Pip-Boy on the table, she retrieved Virgil’s holotape from a pocket in her jumper which Dr. Li quickly took. The head of Advanced Systems set the volume on the Pip-Boy to a lower setting, holding the speaker to her ear as the tape played. Nora could barely hear the contents of the tape, but the effect that the tape had on Madison Li was astonishing. The unapproachable, unapologetic doctor was <em>crying</em>.</p><p>            “They…they <em>lied</em> to me. They lied to me and I didn’t even realize how far it went”.</p><p>            “You needed to hear the truth,” Nora whispered softly. Deep down, she wasn’t sure if that message was meant solely for Madison.</p><p>            “And for that, I thank you. I came to the Institute to get away from the Brotherhood. From the whole world. I just wanted to do my research in peace. Father took me in and gave me access to cutting-edge technology I could only dream existed. I became jaded, I thought the Institute cared: that they wanted to better mankind. Maybe in their own twisted way they still do, but if you can’t trust the people you’re working for, it’s pointless”.</p><p>            “It sounds like you do <em>really</em> care,” Nora smiled. “If the Brotherhood don’t live up to your expectations, the Minutemen offer is still on the table”.</p><p>            “It sounds a little like <em>you</em> care as well, Father’s mother”.</p><p>            “Nora”.</p><p>            “Nora. Well, Nora, tell whoever sent you that they just regained the services of Dr. Madison Li. I’ll go my own way rather than travel there with you; I can’t risk anyone becoming suspicious. This’ll probably be the last time we see each other in the Institute”.</p><p>            Madison Li became apprehensive, lowering her voice. “Nora…you were transparent with me, so I’ll be transparent with you. Don’t cross Father. He’s a dangerous man”.</p><p>            “Is he…<em>really</em> my son?”</p><p>            “I wouldn’t know. If the stories about Father are correct, he came here as a baby. I joined a few short years ago. You know as much as I do when it comes to your relation to him”.</p><p>            “I see…”</p><p>            “<em>But</em>…” Madison Li continued, “…there’s a project that Father had Advanced Systems and the SRB working on in case something happened with you and the Institute. Just in case things didn’t go as planned with your arrival or if you decided not to stay, Father asked me t—”</p><p>            “Dr Li!” Someone could be heard banging on the apartment door, alarming both Nora and Dr. Li. The Doctor approached the door, dropping the holotape behind a cabinet.</p><p>            “Who is it?”</p><p>            “Dr. Watson wants you. He says there’s a problem with power distribution in the lab. It can’t wait!”</p><p>            “Great,” Dr. Li sighed. “And I had <em>company</em> over too”. Madison Li opened the apartment door to reveal a lower-ranking Advanced Systems scientist who seemed surprised to find Nora in the apartment.</p><p>            “Oh? Mother?”</p><p>            “I have to go,” Madison said smoothly. “Will that be enough work on your Pip-Boy tonight, mother?”</p><p>            “I told you to call me Nora. And <em>yes</em>. That’s perfect”.</p><p>            With nothing further to think about for the night, Nora Mulyer returned to her own quarters and laid in bed. Restful sleep eluded her once again; finding Shaun had been her only motivation on the surface, but in the underground world he’d gone to, she wasn’t so sure she liked what she found. In the early morning, instructions came for her to prepare for her re-entry to the Commonwealth. Making sure to have the FEV cure and the Network Holotape, she changed back into her now-clean Vault Suit and made her way to the infirmary where Shaun and Dr. Volkert were waiting for her. Nora watched as the physician took a cheek swab from Shaun before handing her the vial.</p><p>            “We’re going to drop you just outside the Brotherhood’s base. I’m sure they’ll be able to manage a paternity test”.</p><p>            “I trust you, Shaun,” Nora lied.</p><p>            “I’m glad you do,” Shaun smiled after Dr. Volkert finished taking a sample. “But I’m your son, and I want you to <em>know</em> that, not believe it”. He thought she was tearing up at his kindness and fealty to her; as smart as all the scientists in the Institute were, they had no idea that she was mourning the transformation of her son into something to twisted to comprehend. Her thoughts echoed around her even as the relay roared with power around her, returning her to the Commonwealth, just outside the Boston Airport. The Prydwen was aware of the spike in energy readings so close to their base of operations, but no one could believe what they saw when Knight Mulyer, in her iconic armored Vault Suit, appeared on the road in front of them, raising her hands above her head.</p><p>            “How do we know you’re the real Mulyer?” A suspicious guard said, pointing a gun at her.</p><p>            “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!” A voice yelled from behind. It was Proctor Ingram, who’d been working on the supports of the gantry being constructed on the tarmac of the airport. “Synth or not, the Elder wants her alive. As long as she doesn’t resist, we’re to take her into custody peacefully”.</p><p>            “I won’t resist. It’s me,” Nora said softly. Her voice was beginning to break from the stress of the visit. While escorting her alongside two armed guards, Proctor Ingram took a moment to address a few concerns.</p><p>            “You’re alive, Knight”.</p><p>            “Yes”.</p><p>            “Your hair looks different”.</p><p>            “They gave me a haircut. I looked too unkempt for their tastes”.</p><p>            “<em>And</em>?”</p><p>            “They washed my clothes and gave me medical treatment for lingering radiation sickness”.</p><p>            “Did you learn anything?”</p><p>            “The holotape is in my Pip-Boy,” Nora said. “As usual”.</p><p>            Elder Maxson, Knight-Captain Cade, and Paladin Danse could be seen making their way into the secure area where Ingram had led Nora. Both of them seemed to have several questions, and Maxson reacted with noticeable joy when Nora revealed that she’d returned with a full scan (as far as he knew) of the Institute’s mainframe. Once Cade had gotten satisfactory responses from Nora to distinguish her from a synth copy, one of the guards posted in the room took the opportunity to try and pay a compliment.</p><p>            “Knight… you’re up for a <em>huge</em> commendation. You <em>did not</em> just waltz into the Institute, steal their data, and get laundry service and a haircut while you were there”.</p><p>            “I always was a smooth talker,” Nora said blankly. Her lack of inflection made Cade and Ingram raise an eyebrow.</p><p>            “You’re not acting like yourself, even with the satisfactory answers,” Knight-Captain Cade said darkly. “I know that look. Either you’re a <em>really </em>convincing synth, <em>or something went wrong</em>”.</p><p>            “Knight,” Elder Maxson asked warily. “What about Dr. Li?”</p><p>            “Returning the Brotherhood as soon as she finds a way to sneak out on her own”.</p><p>            “That’s…unexpectedly good news”.</p><p>            “And…your son?” Danse asked, feeling dread inch down his spine.</p><p>            “I’m having difficulty believing you would leave without him,” Elder Maxson murmured, feeling that same dread. Nora’s only response was to pull a small vial out of her pocket and hold it up for Cade to see.</p><p>            “Please tell me this wasn’t from him,” Nora said darkly. There were no words, no answers, no explanations. To everyone’s shock and dismay, Nora Mulyer simply crumpled to the ground. Maxson wasn’t sure he’d ever heard a person scream in such agony before, but it wasn’t something he wanted to hear from Nora's mouth <em>ever</em> again.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0036"><h2>36. Strange Things For The Ones We Love</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 36: In which Nora spends her time recovering from a very deep blow.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>STRANGE THINGS FOR THE ONES WE LOVE</h1><p>
  <em>“And I moved further than I thought I could/but I missed you more than I thought I would/And I’ll use you as a warning sign/That if you talk enough sense, then you’ll lose your mind” – Amber Run “I Found”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            Cade hated breaking out sedatives. The Brotherhood expected a certain amount of mental fortitude in its soldiers: one needed not apply if one couldn’t stand the miseries of war. Every now and again though, some truly horrific incident would occur that was beyond the scope of simply telling a soldier to ‘tough it out’. It took something <em>truly</em> terrible to break the average Brotherhood soldier, and it took what Cade could only describe as an extract of nightmares to break a good one.</p><p>Nora, who was in the midst of a mental breakdown, had to be forcibly dragged to the ground hospital on the Prydwen and injected with a combination of Daytripper and Med-X. Nora had struggled so much that even Danse had to get involved, and Nora had nearly broken his jaw for the trouble. Two injections later, she was finally asleep. In the ground hospital, a few bags of precious ice were kept on hand for medical purposes. One such bag was being handed from Cade to Danse for the latter’s swollen jaw. When the first injection pierced her skin, she’d reacted with such shock that she’d punched the first person she could reach.</p><p>            “I think we taught her how to hit a little <em>too </em>well,” Cade tried to joke.</p><p>            “Jesus…” Danse muttered. “I’ve never seen <em>anyone</em> do that before”.</p><p>            “I have,” Cade mentioned. “Though I wish I didn’t…”</p><p>            “There’s a <em>cure</em> right? For whatever they did to her?”</p><p>            “That, Paladin…will only be determined with time”.</p><p>            The cocktail of sedatives had put Nora out of commission for the rest of the day. When she finally awoke, only the hospital scribes remained to watch over her. The throbbing ache in her head caused her to let out a moan that got someone’s attention.</p><p>            “Knight?”</p><p>            “Uuuuggghhhhh…”</p><p>            “Knight, how are you feeling? Can you answer me?”</p><p>            There were <em>more</em> scribes, suddenly. “I think she’s still a bit disoriented. Careful, she nearly took Paladin Danse’s jaw clean off when she got startled”.</p><p>            <em>I did what? </em>The scribes in the background were still whispering amongst themselves.</p><p>            “Is it true? Did they really <em>kill</em> her baby? That’s a whole new level of evil…”</p><p>            “She didn’t come back with her kid”.</p><p>            “Wait, but Knight-Captain Cade said the test was <em>positive</em>”.</p><p>            Positive. Father, who’d continued setting super mutants and hostile synths on the Commonwealth, was her son. Father, who’d enslaved countless synths, was her son. Father, who’d wiped out an entire settlement of people in the Commonwealth…<em>was her son. </em>She’d gone through so much to find her infant son, only to be sixty years too late and find, in baby Shaun’s place, a 23<sup>rd</sup> century dictator. Part of her wished that her family had never entered that Vault; what would Nate think seeing Shaun’s sins listed out on paper for all to see?</p><p>            She couldn’t tell anyone anything. The weight of hiding the truth about Danse, the plan to free thirteen synths from the Institute for the Railroad, and <em>trying</em> to re-evaluate keeping the peace between all parties in the Commonwealth in the wake of the Institute’s sins --- she should have <em>known</em> she was biting off too much to chew when she sought Shaun out.</p><p>            <em>Why didn’t I just stay out of it all?</em></p><p>            Nate was whispering in her ear again, though his voice seemed distorted in the haze of her mind: <em>what else would you have done?</em> She had no answers. A scribe was gently shaking her now, trying to get her attention.</p><p>            “Knight…hello? Anyone home?” The scribe was alarmed to find that Nora was <em>crying</em>. It took him only a matter of seconds to determine that she’d heard the results.</p><p>            “Oh no. Goddammit,” he warned the other scribes. “She heard you idiots. Now look what you’ve gone and done!”</p><p>            “S-sorry senior scribe, I didn’t think she could hear me”.</p><p>            “Didn’t think she could <em>hear</em> you? Do we need to re-evaluate your medical training, scribe? You’re on bedpan duty on this wing tonight”. The sounds of sudden saluting could be heard as the scribes snapped to attention.</p><p>            “Knight-Captain!” The senior scribe said sharply. “Sorry sir, I was just—”</p><p>            “…I heard. Handle this situation elsewhere. I need to speak with Knight Mulyer <em>alone</em>”.</p><p>            “W-water?” A semi-conscious Nora asked. The senior scribe quickly rushed off to get one while Cade pulled up a chair and examined Nora.</p><p>            “You had quite the trip”.</p><p>            “Water?”</p><p>            “Still not fully back, I see. Senior Scribe! Bring a straw”. Cade muttered notes to himself about <em>disorientation</em> as he held Nora’s head gently, guiding her to a drink.</p><p>            “Better?”</p><p>            “Wh…what the hell did you put in me?”</p><p>            “I had to sedate you, you were having a full-blown panic attack”.</p><p>            “I’m surprised you didn’t shoot me,” Nora said weakly.</p><p>            “You answered all the questions properly, and I <em>highly</em> doubt an Institute synth would have shown up with even <em>half</em> the compromising information that Proctor Quinlan’s scribes have pulled out of your holo-tape. You’ve earned a medal, not a bullet. We’re all extremely proud of you, Knight. Or is it General?”</p><p>            “Fuck…the Minutemen,” Nora realized. She was slowly starting to remember the full extent of the world waiting for her outside the Institute. All the commitments she’d put on herself in the midst of finding Shaun just seemed all the more daunting.</p><p>            “Colonel Garvey was notified you were here and ill. He’ll be arriving via Vertibird tomorrow morning. Apparently there were some developments with the Minutemen he’s tackling in your stead at the moment”.</p><p>            “Oh god, what happened…”</p><p>            “Nothing <em>bad</em>. I don’t know the details but I know it had something to do with the Castle. There’s been no signs of disturbances, so I’m guessing this is just some <em>internal</em> development. He declined to pass on details over the radio. As long as it isn’t an emergency, we’re all in agreement that we need to make sure you’re alright. Let’s start with the most important questions; any pain?”</p><p>            “I’m…not sure”.</p><p>            “You’re <em>unsure</em> if you’re in pain, Knight?” Cade asked with concern.</p><p>            “It’s not…<em>normal</em> pain”.</p><p>            “Chest pain?”</p><p>            “Yes”.</p><p>            “You probably have <em>severe </em>anxiety. You were a nervous wreck once the de-brief was over. Did they let you sleep when you were there? You look <em>exhausted</em>”.</p><p>            “They insisted on sleep…” Nora said meekly. “They said the same thing you did: that I was tired and needed rest. They had their physician treat me. I got medicine, food, a haircut, a warm bed…”</p><p>            “Did they ask anything about the Brotherhood?”</p><p>            “They don’t seem <em>thrilled</em> that I’m working with you, but…no. They didn’t. I think they’re more focused on the Railroad”.</p><p>            “Good news for us then,” Cade shrugged, adding “let them kill each other and we’ll deal with the survivors. Did they ask anything else of you?”</p><p>            “They…want me to join them”.</p><p>            “You’re <em>working </em>for them?” Cade’s voice changed.</p><p>            “No. I mean…I haven’t done anything for them. It’s complicated, Cade”.</p><p>            “Your <em>son</em>,” Cade realized, with disgust in his voice. “Good god, Knight, are they really <em>threatening </em>you with your child? No wonder you’ve been acting erratically”.</p><p>            “Cade,” Nora tried to explain, “it’s not that <em>simple</em>”.</p><p>            “No, it <em>is</em> simple”. Helpful as he was trying to be, the Brotherhood’s chief medical officer was jumping to conclusions.</p><p>            “Knight,” he said reassuringly, “you said you haven’t actually done what they wanted, right? You came to us first?”</p><p>            “It’s…I…”</p><p>            “Did you or did you not come to us first?”</p><p>            He wasn’t going to budge without an answer, and Nora felt too drained to try and correct him anymore. Who would even believe her if she told him the truth, or worse, <em>what would they do with her and Shaun?</em></p><p>            “I came to you,” she sighed.</p><p>            “Have you started any work on their project?”</p><p>            “No”.</p><p>            “Do you plan to?”</p><p>            “I never got that far, Cade. I just got dropped back into the world and came straight here”.</p><p>            “I’m <em>very </em>glad to hear it. Now, what do they want you to do? Does it have <em>anything</em> to do with the Brotherhood?’</p><p>            “No, Cade. Rogue synth in Libertalia. They want their missing slave back”.</p><p>            “Does something bad happen to you or your son if they don’t get this synth back?”</p><p>            <em>I have no idea how to answer that</em>. Even though he was a monster, the idea of being rejected by her son so soon after finding him <em>stung</em>.</p><p>            “Shit,” Cade muttered. “I’ll take your silence as a yes. Is there a time-limit on how long you have?”</p><p>            “N-no”.</p><p>            “Good. Can you walk or are you still dizzy from the sedative?”</p><p>            “I…where are we going?”</p><p>            “To Lancer-Captain Kells; Elder Maxson’s busy. Tell you what, let me help you up…” Nora could barely protest, still feeling out of sorts from the sedative as Cade promptly lifted her up unto her feet and had her stand, testing if she could balance on her own. Her knees buckled for a moment, but Cade quickly caught her and tightened his grip on her waist.</p><p>            “Yeah, you are <em>definitely</em> still not quite awake yet. Senior Scribe!” The scribe who’d gotten the water bottle returned quickly.</p><p>            “Knight-Captain?”</p><p>            “Help me help her. We need to get to the Vertibird. Tell the Flight Deck to have two deck scribes ready”. The Captain and the Scribe quickly escorted Nora to a Vertibird waiting to take them up to Kells. Once aboard the Prydwen, Nora started to feel her balance return to her, though she still had to cling to a wall periodically. Lancer-Captain Kells had noticed their arrival and broke from the Prydwen’s controls to help Nora to one of the chairs on the Command Deck.</p><p>            “You’ve certainly looked better,” Kells said curtly. “And I say that having seen you come back from swimming in the Glowing Sea with Deathclaws”.</p><p>            “Captain,” Cade addressed Kells, before whispering into Kells’ ear about what Nora had ‘told’ him. Lancer-Captain Kells seemed absolutely horrified.</p><p>            “They’ll really stop at <em>nothing</em>, will they? I have to say, Knight. You’ve earned my respect. Not many people would face that kind of ultimatum and come here first anyway”.</p><p>            “Great…” Nora said, thinking she wasn’t speaking aloud. “I’m a terrible mother”.</p><p>            It was <em>rare</em> to see Kells retract a statement. “Er…that’s not how I meant that, Knight. Captain Cade, are you <em>sure </em>she’s alright?”<br/>            “No”.</p><p>            “I hope you’re not planning on actually <em>doing</em> that crazy assignment in your state, Knight. I think you’ve earned a long period of medical leave while we determine the next course of action. A <em>rogue synth</em>, you say? At Libertalia? We could have Vertibirds bomb the ships; that should solve the problem quickly”.</p><p>            Nora rose from her chair. “No!”</p><p>            “Knight,” Kells said firmly, “…you’re in no state to head out there and we can’t risk either alternative. You want us to just <em>hand</em> such dangerous technology back to the Institute”.</p><p>            “They want to fix it,” Nora pleaded. “They want to take it offline since it’s defective”.</p><p>            “I’ll forgive your insubordination given your mental state and your successful infiltration of the Institute, but a ‘no’ is a ‘no’. You’re not thinking clearly, Knight”. Kells shifted his attention to Cade as he added, “…I think it best Knight Mulyer return to being under the watchful eyes of the medical staff until she regains her senses”.</p><p>            “Alright, time to go…” Cade said quickly, pulling Nora away from Kells.</p><p>            “Kells, please! I need that synth to get back into the Institute!”</p><p>            “<em>Back</em>, Knight?”</p><p>            “They put a Courser chip in my Pip-Boy for the mission”.</p><p>            “You’re saying you can just…<em>teleport</em> back in there? On a whim?”</p><p>            “I imagine she needs to stay in their good graces…” Cade added.</p><p>            “The fact that you’d even consider trying to return to— oh. Your son’s still there. Right”. Lancer-Captain Kells shook his head before muttering, “<em>maybe</em> we can use this situation to our advantage, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re still out of sorts. Until I’ve had a chance to discuss this situation with Maxson, I don’t want to hear <em>anything</em> about you disappearing anywhere, understood? As a matter of fact…you said the Pip-Boy has the Courser chip on it? I’m going to have to order you to hand it over to me”.</p><p>            Nora sighed. “I’ve got fragile things in here. <em>Important</em> things”.</p><p>            “I’m not going to take it apart, Knight. I just want to ensure you don’t leave this ship. For all we know, they can remotely teleport you at any time”. Seeing no other option, Nora unbuckled the device from her arm before handing it back to Kells, who promptly opened the Pip-Boy’s compartment to see a holo-tape.</p><p>            “What’s <em>The Cuckoo In The Depths Of The Wood</em>, Knight?” Before Nora could answer, Kells put the holo-tape in the drive of the holo-tape and hit play. The sounds of classical music emanated from the Pip-Boy’s speakers, much to Kells’ surprise.</p><p>            “What were you expecting, Lancer-Captain? An Institute bomb?”</p><p>            “…admittedly, yes”.</p><p>            “Sorry to disappoint you with my taste in classical music,” she muttered.</p><p>            “Point taken. You’re free to head to the infirmary, Knight”.</p><p>#</p><p>            “Don’t be too upset with Kells, Knight. He’s just looking out for everyone else on this ship”. Nora said nothing to Cade, staring up at the ceiling and contemplating the life she’d missed with Shaun.</p><p>            “I mean, when you’re not around he speaks highly of you,” Cade added, trying to lighten the mood. “He still has to follow protocol, even if he trusts you. You understand?”</p><p>            <em>Change the fucking subject, Cade.</em></p><p>            “Cade?”</p><p>            “Yes Knight?”<br/>            “The test was positive”.</p><p>            “…yes, Knight. Whoever you got that from, that’s your son. Did you see them take this from your son directly?”</p><p>            “Yes?”</p><p>            “…is your son…alright?”</p><p>            “I…don’t know”.</p><p>            “<em>You don’t know?</em>”</p><p>            “The Institute…definitely got to him”.</p><p>            “That’s a shame to hear, Knight. Though…maybe someday?”</p><p>            “I sincerely doubt it, Cade”. He could see the tears rolling down her cheeks, even though she wasn’t looking at him. While Cade was searching for something to try and say in response, someone walked into the infirmary.</p><p>            “Elder? I thought you were busy with Ingram”.</p><p>            “I was. I finished early”. Arthur’s eyes flickered down at Nora.</p><p>            <em>She’s <strong>still </strong>crying. </em>Looking back up at Cade, Elder Maxson could notice Cade frantically making gestures for Arthur <em>not</em> to engage Nora. Cautiously, the Elder avoided her altogether, instead heading over to Cade who whispered his findings into Elder Maxson’s ear.</p><p>            “They want <em>what</em>? They put that in her Pip-Boy? A rogue synth <em>where</em>?”</p><p>            “The test was positive,” Cade whispered.</p><p>            “I’m <em>aware</em> it was positive; it’s all anyone on the ship talks about”. Nora had been right about the fact that somewhere in Elder Maxson, there was an idealistic young man who thought that he was waging a glorious war against a great evil. The idea that the Institute would stoop to something as barbaric as kidnapping children had, to Maxson, justified the idea of giving them no quarter in that war. The fact that they were using one child to manipulate one of his own soldiers just made him sick to his stomach. Even without considering his <em>personal</em> feelings on the matter, that <em>new</em> level of evil made him want to salt whatever crater would be left of the Institute when he was done. Maxson thought a moment about what he’d do next before grabbing a chair from a nearby desk and scooting it over to Nora. She barely acknowledged his existence when he sat down.</p><p>            “Nora”. No answer. Half expecting that, he reached into his pocket and produced Nora’s personal effects.</p><p>            “These are yours. I promised I’d return them to you when you returned”. To his alarm, she barely registered the picture or Codsworth’s circuits. The holo-tape momentarily caught her attention. She sat up straight, slowly, before taking the holo-tape and staring at it solemnly. It took several agonizing moments before she spoke.</p><p>            “…this is the only evidence he was ever even my baby”.</p><p>            Maxson gulped, not knowing what to say. “…I’m sorry”.</p><p>            “<em>You’re </em>sorry? I’m the one whose son is sitting in the Institute like a brainwashed lab rat”.</p><p>            “That…must have been incredibly difficult to watch”.</p><p>            “That’s his only home, Maxson. That’s all he fucking knows…I really wanted to do something to try and justify all the Institute’s done because it’s his only world but…all the sick shit they did”.</p><p>            “You don’t have to stress yourself any further,” Maxson said calmly. “We have a way back into the Institute for more reconnaissance, we have all their data, and we have Dr. Li en route to us. She made it to the Cambridge Police Station. You’ve done <em>plenty</em>. We’ll figure out the Libertalia situation when you’re in a bit better of a state of mind and after you’ve dealt with whatever is going on at the Castle”.</p><p>            “You’re not blowing Libertalia to hell?”</p><p>            “I’m not stupid, Knight. For our sake and yours, we need to proceed with caution. I’m perfectly capable of being patient. Let’s talk about something else; I hear you got medical attention at the Institute. Did they maybe give you any interesting insights on medication? I’m sure Cade would find that fascinating…”</p><p>            “I left with a prototype cure for FEV in my Pip-Boy,” Nora muttered. Cade began laughing. Maxson had chuckled too, at first, thinking that her statement was some sort of joke before Nora followed up with the words, “…so we should get that to Virgil and see if it works”.</p><p>            “Haha…ha…what?” Cade asked. Maxson was staring at Nora with his jaw agape.</p><p>            “You…wait. <em>The cure</em>?”</p><p>            “For FEV. I have it. It’s untested though”.</p><p>            “The Forced Evolutionary Virus?” Maxson asked in disbelief.</p><p>            “No, the other thing that makes super mutants,” she said bitterly, “I literally came back with everything you wanted. I got everything <em>except</em> my child”. To her surprise, both men in the room looked as though they were about to pass out. Maxson was the first to calm himself down, poking her hand for a moment with his finger to get her attention. She cocked an eyebrow at him.</p><p>            “You really are amazing, Knight. I ought to commission you”.</p><p>            His eyes narrowed a bit. “…but it wouldn’t be what you want, and that’s what makes you so damned admirable. I wish I <em>could</em> guarantee you your son back, <em>Knight-Sergeant</em>. In a perfect world…”</p><p>            “This isn’t a perfect world, and he’s not coming back, Maxson”.</p><p>            “You’re sure? Not even a slight chance? You brought Cade fresh saliva. Maybe we have you get that synth and grab the boy on your way out? We’ve already gotten all we need and more from your trip; there’s no shame in sending you back in on a purely selfish run”.</p><p>            “Elder, she’s…still not quite together”.</p><p>            “I also saw him myself, Arthur. It’d take a fucking miracle. I’m sure you’re just trying to help, but I don’t want to talk about it anymore”.</p><p>            “Sorry, Nora. Just thinking out loud”.</p><p>            “Well, <em>don’t</em> worry about it. This isn’t your business, and you don’t have to make it your business just because you need me to be your political wife”. She expected push back. Resistance. Perhaps a stern condemnation or a sharp comeback. What she got instead was just a <em>sad</em> look from him.</p><p>            “That’s not why I worry”.</p><p>            “I guess you <em>do</em> care about your men. Sorry, Maxson”.</p><p>            “I do,” he confessed, “but that’s not why I’m worried either”. Cade blushed a little bit before murmuring something about needing to find more alcohol wipes and leaving the room.</p><p>            “I thought they wanted me on watch,” Nora muttered.</p><p>            “I’m not going anywhere”.</p><p>            “You don’t have to get up and work early in the morning?”</p><p>            “I’ll manage. You jumped into the belly of the beast for your son. I can stay up a bit longer. We do strange things for the ones we love”.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This chapter almost didn't exist. It started out much shorter as a section to the next chapter, but a lot of the character interactions here that happened felt too natural to skip over. Before I knew it, I had a hurt/comfort vignette with a bit of fluff in it, and decided it deserved to be it's own chapter.</p><p>I suppose you could also call it, "in which Arthur Maxson finally admits that his interest in Nora is about more than politics or good genes"</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0037"><h2>37. Lamar</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 37: In which Nora returns to the Castle with interesting news.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>LAMAR</h1><p>
  <em>Superman was the man of steel/but he aint no match for a Navy Seal/Chief and Supe got in a fight;/Chief hit Supe with kryptonite” – Random Military Cadence</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>            “Garvey”.</p><p>            “Danse. What happened to your face?”</p><p>            “Nothing important. How was the trip?”</p><p>            “I guess you were right. After a couple times on a Vertibird, it’s not so bad”. With Danse’s help, Preston disembarked quickly from the Vertibird and stood on the Flight Deck.</p><p>            “It takes a bit to get used to being up here too, Garvey”.</p><p>            “Spoken from experience, Danse?”</p><p>            “I’ve lived on this ship since it was first built. It’s the only home I’ve ever really known. I guess after almost six years, you get used to doing everything under giant balloons filled with hydrogen gas”. He led Preston Garvey to the inside of the Prydwen before finding a corner off to themselves and pulling the Minuteman Colonel aside.</p><p>            “Wait, I thought we were going to see the General. What’s this about?”</p><p>            “It’s important,” Danse said quickly. He pointed to a sizeable purple bruise on his lower jaw. “She’s been…<em>out of sorts</em> since her return from the Institute”.</p><p>            “She passed that synth test though, right?”</p><p>            “She did; that’s not the problem. The boy didn’t come back with her”.</p><p>            “Someone mentioned…” Preston said warily. “She’s…not taking it well?”</p><p>            “No”.</p><p>            “What did they do to him?”</p><p>            “I dunno. She hasn’t exactly been in a suitable state of mind to tell us the details. Every time someone tries to pry the specifics from her, she stops making any sense. What we <em>are</em> confident of is that they’re trying to use him to manipulate her. When they sent her back the surface, they instructed her to seek out a rogue synth from the raider outfit at Libertalia and ‘reclaim’ it for the Institute, as she put it”.</p><p>            “Rogue synths turning into raiders,” Preston mumbled. “Like we needed more problems”.</p><p>            “My thoughts exactly. The thought that our own could potentially be synth infiltrators and that we may not even be aware of it is distressing, to say the least. Regardless, I just figured you should know what kind of state she’s in before you go see her”. Danse proceeded to leave the alcove, gesturing Preston to follow as they made their way into the main deck of the Castle and to the infirmary. When they made it into the infirmary and off to the back room where Nora lay in bed.</p><p>            “General,” Preston said with concern. “You…okay?”</p><p>            “Far from it”.</p><p>            “I’m sorry”.</p><p>            Nora looked at Preston blankly, too tired to explain anything that had happened at the Institute with the Brotherhood listening, even after so much sleep. Gently, she eased herself out of bed and stood up to look Preston in the eyes.</p><p>            “I heard you were working overtime on my behalf”.</p><p>            “There’s been a development at the Castle.  Some of the older Minutemen are returning to the fold”.</p><p>            “Sounds nice”.</p><p>            “One of them says she might be able to get us into the Castle’s tunnels; you know, the parts that got all caved in forty years ago?”</p><p>            “She must be an old woman,” Danse remarked.</p><p>            “Old but gold,” Preston smiled casually.</p><p>            “Alright, so what does she need before she gets to work?” Nora asked blankly.</p><p>            “Actually…I know this is bad timing, but she wants to meet you before she joins back up and helps us at all”.</p><p>            “I’m not confident that’s a good idea right now, Garvey. Shouldn’t this be something the executive officer can handle?”</p><p>            “Danse, it’s fine,” Nora sighed. “I need to check in with the Commonwealth Minutemen anyway. I can’t General from the Prydwen. Preston, is Deacon still at the Castle?”</p><p>            “Left yesterday. Said he had an errand to run”. Nora ignored the fact that Danse was rolling his eyes at Deacon’s mention. Before they could converse further, a knock at the door interrupted them.</p><p>            “Paladin?” A Scribe-Initiate was at the door. “Elder Maxson wants to see the Knight-Sergeant”.</p><p>            “The Brotherhood Elder, huh?” Preston said quickly. “So are Danse and I invited or is this a private meeting?”</p><p>            “He didn’t specify, Colonel Garvey”.</p><p>“Doesn’t matter. Come with me if you both want,” Nora shrugged. “Maxson better have my Pip-Boy”.</p><p>#</p><p>            “Sir, are you absolutely certain you don’t need any additional rest?” As they both stood on the Command Deck waiting for Nora, Lancer-Captain Kells looked at Elder Maxson with concern. The normally energetic, confident Elder was rubbing his eyes and yawning visibly.</p><p>            “You <em>definitely</em> didn’t sleep well last night. Was sitting in the infirmary last night really so necessary?”</p><p>            “I wasn’t get much sleep either way,” Maxson muttered.</p><p>            “Maybe some coffee wouldn’t hurt. I can send for some”. Kells looked at the doorway in time to see Nora enter the Command Deck with Preston Garvey and Paladin Danse behind her.</p><p>            “We don’t have time, Lancer-Captain”. With one final yawn, Arthur Maxson snapped himself to attention and ensured he looked presentable. He didn’t need Nora, Danse, or the Minuteman Colonel seeing the Elder of the Brotherhood of Steel looking anything but his best.</p><p>            “Star Paladin. Knight-Sergeant. Colonel”. Everyone but Preston saluted the Elder, though Arthur did find the slight tip of Preston Garvey’s hat to be amusing.</p><p>            “You have an entourage now, Knight-Sergeant. While they’re welcome to stay, I only asked for you specifically”.</p><p>            “They chose to come”.</p><p>            “A sign the General of the Minutemen has grown into her leadership role. Actually, I called you here to discuss just that. In regards to the Brotherhood, I couldn’t possibly clear you for duty right now, but I have no say in your work with the Minutemen”.</p><p>            “We did agree that you won’t interfere with Minutemen affairs as long as we don’t interfere with you”.</p><p>            “Indeed, <em>General</em>. I’m curious. Indulge me, if you would. What’s going on at the Castle?”</p><p>            “Just the usual. Checking in with the troops. Building renovations. Processing new recruits. Apparently we’ve had a very <em>high-profile</em> Minuteman addition”.</p><p>            “Doesn’t sound like anything too dangerous. Just promise you’ll stay away from trouble, Mulyer?”</p><p>            “I can’t make any promises, Elder. It has a nasty habit of following me around”.</p><p>            “At least your honest,” Elder Maxson half-chuckled. Nora could see the bags under his eyes for a moment as he blinked, before he opened his eyes and looked at Danse.</p><p>            “Star-Paladin”.</p><p>            “Yes sir”.</p><p>            “Trouble <em>does</em> have a habit of finding her. Keep her out of it. When you’re not busy, fall in with the Minutemen and make yourself useful as the General or her second-in-command see fit”. Elder Maxson’s eyes quickly flashed on Preston Garvey. “I’m loaning the Commonwealth Minutemen one of my best soldiers. I hope you understand this is a show of solidarity, not condescension”.</p><p>            “Welcome to the Commonwealth Minutemen recruit,” Preston chuckled. Nora just stared at Danse blankly.</p><p>            “Recruit?” Danse mumbled questioningly.</p><p>            “Preston, Colonel comes after Lieutenant, right? I’m not two-centuries behind?”</p><p>            “Yes ma’am”.</p><p>            “Great. Guess who just became one of our two new Lieutenants?”</p><p>            “That’s more like it,” Danse boasted for a moment, before stopping and looking at Nora. “Wait, who else is here for you to promote?”</p><p>            “Deacon’s getting his when he gets back”. Preston laughed for a moment as Danse asked in horror why he had to share a rank with Deacon.</p><p>            “Man, they <em>really</em> don’t like each other,” Preston asked. “You sure it’s the best idea to have them both up against each other like that?”</p><p>            “It’ll be motivating,” Nora said softly. Maxson cocked an eyebrow at the fact that while Danse and Preston seemed at least <em>somewhat</em> jovial, Nora seemed muted. Unbeknownst to him, Nora was thinking back to everything that had led her up to the Institute. With Shaun now an elderly man beyond her reach, she had to think of the world she’d found herself in. The Institute still presented a huge problem for the Commonwealth, and Nora had laid in bed the previous night and racked her brain tackling the new reality she’d found herself in. Even when Maxson began nodding off in his chair, she’d rolled away and pretended to be asleep so she could be left to think in peace, without him watching over her.</p><p>            He was a good man, but he was too young, too hot-headed, and too naïve to understand the delicacies of the situation. The Brotherhood’s fire, if left unchecked, would burn down the peace she’d worked so hard for. It would take an incredible amount of work to coax the Railroad out of the shadows, and working with them directly would be the easiest way to ensure that Shaun distanced himself from her. The Institute themselves, with Shaun at the helm, were too self-centered to be trusted with making the world livable again. If they’d really wanted to do so, it would have been done long before Nora rose from the Vault and re-entered the world of the living. Maxson returned her Pip-Boy to her and dismissed the soldiers to pack and head to the Castle. As Nora looked out over the Commonwealth from the view afforded to her from the Vertibird, she wondered how much longer the road ahead of her was.</p><p>#</p><p>Everyone at the Castle had been busy. There were more Minutemen delegated to watchpoints around the tower now. Caravans came in and out, reorganized under Preston Garvey’s careful direction to accommodate the new shape of the Commonwealth. Music emanated from the speakers around the Castle as the Minutemen advertised their new radio station: Radio Freedom. They’d gotten the power grid restored to working order. A woman who looked a bit older than Desdemona stood at the sealed armory gate, in green military fatigues, waiting for Nora.</p><p>            “There you are,” Ronnie Shaw glanced at Nora appraisingly. “Finally. I’ve been waiting here a day to talk to you”. Nora rolled her eyes and stared at Ronnie blankly.</p><p>            “You forgot to make an appointment”.</p><p>            Ronnie seemed to like that response. “Oh, a smart-mouth, eh? Well, now that I’ve finally <em>got</em> my appointment, I’m Ronnie Shaw. Commonwealth Minutemen; or at least I used to be before Joe Becker got himself killed and the ‘idjits’ took over”.</p><p>            “We could always use more seasoned veterans around here”.</p><p>            “You’re right about that. I feel like some of these you’ve got here still need their diapers changed. The two behind you don’t look so bad, though. What’re they, your right-hand men or something? <em>I sure hope so</em>”.</p><p>            “I don’t like what she’s insinuating,” Danse muttered, a bit insulted.</p><p>            “Colonel Preston Garvey,” Nora remained cool even under insults, only causing Ronnie to secretly like her more. “And the tin man is the Brotherhood of Steel’s Star Paladin Danse; he’s on loan to use as part of a <em>joint</em> collaboration”.</p><p>            “We get to order the Brotherhood around,” Ronnie laughed, “how’d you manage that?”</p><p>            “<em>I </em>get to order the Brotherhood around,” Nora said, asserting her authority. “Danse is unofficially a Lieutenant, so Colonel Garvey can do the same. Now, where does that leave you?”</p><p>            “You don’t get a pass because everyone calls you ‘General’, missy. Respect has to be earned. I’ve was a Minuteman back when you were in the Vault having your diapers changed, understood?”</p><p>            “If that’s what you think,” Nora said cryptically. “I’m not here for a dick-measuring contest, Shaw. Just tell me what you’re here for”.</p><p>            “Preston, is this how the Minutemen usually treat their General?” Danse asked.</p><p>            “I…look, she was from before my time. I don’t know her all that well”.</p><p>            “While your two men-folk argue in the background, you should know I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t hear good things about you,” Ronnie said seriously. “And you’ve got <em>backbone</em> too. That’s good. I wonder if you kiss your mother with that mouth, General, but at least I know if I re-joined, I’d be behind someone with some fight in them. Now, I’m here because I think you might need my help”.</p><p>            “Yeah, Shaw. I heard you know about our armory?”</p><p>            “I did. The front door’s been locked since the Castle fell, but if you can’t go <em>through</em>, go around, right? Follow me”. As Ronnie began leading the group to the Castle’s tunnels, Nora was surprised to see Deacon returning through the entrance.</p><p>            “Wait a moment, Ronnie. <em>Deacon</em>! Is that you?”</p><p>            “<em>Boss?</em> You’re back!” Deacon seemed genuinely surprised to see Nora again, running up to her and giving her a hug. It wasn’t a long one or a romantic one, very far from the embraces that Nate or Maxson had once caught her up in, but it was the first physical affection she’d gotten since Shaun.</p><p>            <em>Shaun</em>. She could feel her heart rate rise at the memory of being held by her son as she wept in the Institute. He’d had all the answers on why she’d been forced to face the Institute and spend so much time away from him; she wondered if it would be the same when the time came to ask him why he’d done all he’d done in the Commonwealth.</p><p>            “Boss?” Deacon said concernedly. “You okay? I thought the relay beam blasted you to bits!”</p><p>            “I…I dunno”.  Deacon noticed both Preston and Danse were trying to gesture at him, attempting to try and get him to stop talking. If <em>both</em> of them were trying to stop the conversation so frantically…</p><p>            “Did you learn anything?”</p><p>            “A lot”.</p><p>            “<em>Relay beam?</em>” Shaw interrupted.</p><p>            “It’s a long story,” Nora said weakly. “And it didn’t blast me to bits, but I’m sure you figured that out already. We can talk about what I learned in private, later”.</p><p>            “Where’s your son?” Deacon asked. Nora just smiled sadly at Deacon and shook her head.</p><p>            “Too far gone. Let’s put it that way”.</p><p>            “Oh…<em>shit</em> boss. I’m sorry”. As Deacon hesitated, trying to be consoling, Ronnie Shaw looked back at Nora.</p><p>            “Uh…you done?” Preston, Danse, and Deacon all looked at Ronnie in alarm, only to be stopped by Nora, who quickly reminded them that the veteran Minuteman had no idea what they were talking about. Ronnie Shaw managed to take the hint that this was not a manner requiring her immediate attention. With the General and her entourage following behind her, Shaw led the group to a particularly narrow staircase in the General’s quarters.</p><p>            “All this space to yourself and you haven’t furnished?”</p><p>            “I’m always out working, why dedicate such a large room just for me?”</p><p>            “Huh. You’re an interesting broad, General”.</p><p>            “Wasn’t this staircase collapsed?” Nora asked Preston.</p><p>            “Partially, but most of it was just a section of roof up towards here,” Preston responded, pointing to some signs of structural damage. “We’ve had some workers patch up the roof, and once we got the rubble out of the way, the bottom’s actually pretty intact”.</p><p>            “We can go through here to get to the armory,” Ronnie explained. There’s no signs of collapse around the ground level tunnels, so it’s safe to say the underground tunnels survived the Mirelurk infestation. Matter of fact, I can’t find any evidence the Mirelurks even made it underground, so it should be as easy as just walking from one end to the other of the Castle and coming back up around the other side”.</p><p>            “Should be,” Preston shrugged. “Course, it’s never <em>that</em> easy”.</p><p>            “I’ve got the General and her gaggle of strapping young men, how bad could it be?” Ronnie Shaw scoffed.</p><p>            “Er…that tunnel looks <em>awfully</em> small,” Danse muttered.</p><p>            “The Brotherhood of Steel’s dreaded weakness,” Deacon joked. “Cramped spaces”.</p><p>            “Could just get out of the power armor,” Ronnie mumbled.</p><p>            “I don’t wanna see Danse naked,” Deacon said, adding a joking gag.</p><p>            “Maybe we could just grab a couple grenades,” Danse suggested. “<em>Widen</em> the tunnel a bit?”</p><p>            “Or maybe instead of adding an impromptu window into the General’s quarters, we could just leave the armor here,” Nora deadpanned. She looked at Danse, who seemed confounded by her answer.</p><p>            “I said I didn’t understand why such a large room was dedicated just for my personal use. I never said I was giving you leave to start remodelling”.</p><p>            “Duly noted,” Danse muttered. “Are we certain this is the widest staircase to the underground tunnels?”</p><p>            “Danse…maybe you should go find something else to do,” Nora mused.</p><p>            “No way. Elder Maxson told me to keep you out of trouble. Besides, I just got promoted to Lieutenant. I think my worries warrant some consideration”.</p><p>            “The scariest things down there are probably cobwebs, Danse. I’m the General, not a Mr. Handy. Besides, I’ve got a Colonel, another Lieutenant, and…Ronnie, what rank were you?”</p><p>            “Sergeant”.</p><p>            “…and a Sergeant”. Not to mention, we’ll be coming out the other end of the sealed Castle door. Just head to the courtyard and wait, huh? Maybe see if you can whip the new recruits into shape for me a bit while we’re all down there? Lord knows I’ve got a bucketload of work. Being the General means I should delegate it off to my Lieutenants, so…<em>congrats</em>”.</p><p>            “Please don’t take long,” Danse sighed. “Alright…I’ll be waiting for you on the other end of that door”.</p><p>            “We’ll be a while, Lieutenant,” Ronnie Shaw advised him. “Nothing dangerous; it’s just a maze down there. Not exactly a straight shot, you understand, and I want to look around for a few things. Give us an hour or two?”</p><p>#</p><p>            “Damn, sometimes I wonder about that Paladin Danse, y’know?” Deacon scoffed. The group had made their way down to the bottom of the stairs. With the tunnels lit up by some lanterns and Nora’s Pip-Boy light,  Ronnie Shaw looked around the tunnels for any signs of invasion. The tunnels showed no signs of habitation; no Mirelurks, no mice, not even radroaches.</p><p>            “In his own way I think he just cares too much,” Nora sighed. “All he’s ever known is the Brotherhood so when he gets an order…”</p><p>            “He’s been ordered to be following you around like a dog, huh?” Deacon muttered. “Guess that means the wedding’s still on…”</p><p>            “Getting married, General? I think you’ve got your ring on the wrong hand…”</p><p>            “I don’t. I think we should talk <em>later</em> Ronnie. It’s…”</p><p>            “What, I’m not part of the General’s club?”</p><p>            “No, you’re just going to want <em>tons</em> of bourbon for my life story…”</p><p>            “Fair enough. Maybe we clean up the tunnels and catch up later?”</p><p>            “Sounds fine, Ronnie”.</p><p>            “What’s all this got to do with the tin-can upstairs?” Ronnie asked.</p><p>            “Well…you know the Brotherhood, right?”</p><p>            “Is there any missing that giant floating paperweight?”</p><p>            “Their leader”.</p><p>            “Their leader?” Ronnie did a double-take as she realized… “<em>their leader</em>. Well that explains why the Brotherhood aren’t storming the place and demanding half of this year’s harvest. Makes sense though, the big tin can orders the little one to watch his wife, huh?”</p><p>            “I’m not his wife yet. That’s a while off. I’m still getting over losing the last one…”</p><p>            Ronnie went silent. Nora questioned for a moment if Ronnie were about to say something off-color before noticing that the Sergeant was pointing ahead of them.</p><p>            “<em>Careful.</em> The whole tunnel’s full of landmines”.</p><p>            “Landmines?” Preston asked. “What are <em>those</em> doing <em>here</em>?”</p><p>            “No one’s been in here for forty years,” Deacon remarked. “Seems we have a mystery on our hands.</p><p>#</p><p>            “Gentlemen!” Danse had walked into a field-training session with the new Minutemen recruits. They were being taught to handle bayonets for the first time. Rather than disturb the Minutemen’s training sessions immediately, Danse figured he’d just watch the first few sessions and let his observations determine what course of action he should take with getting involved. The first Minutemen who’d joined up and helped take the Castle seemed competent, but with the influx of new recruits came more and more wastelanders looking for a hand-out. The same thing had happened with the Brotherhood, although the Brotherhood were much more choosy about who they allowed into their ranks.</p><p>            The new Minutemen recruits were…<em>noticeably different.</em></p><p>            “Gentlemen!” The Minuteman drill-sergeant seemed oddly weary for a man who’d only had the job a few weeks.</p><p>            “Notice the pointy end? This is the bit that goes <em>toward</em> your enemy. <em>Toward</em>. Your enemy”.</p><p>            <em>Oh boy. Alright Danse, give them some slack. You weren’t that much better when you were a recruit. Besides… maybe the drill sergeant’s just extra concerned with saf—</em></p><p>“Gunther, stop picking your nose and show your fellow recruits how to handle the shaft”. Most of the other recruits were giggling. Danse found himself raising an eyebrow, not entirely sure what joke he was missing. When Gunther held the gun upside down with the bayonet pointing towards his…<em>shaft</em>…Danse couldn’t resist the urge to loudly facepalm.</p><p>            <em>Aaannnd I’m in hell.</em></p><p>            “Gunther! I just explained the pointy end of the shaft faces the person you want to stick it in! You don’t handle a shaft by sticking it into yourself! You need to stick it into someone else, otherwise what’s the point?!” As Gunther flipped the bayonet around to the proper direction, Danse decided that a visit to the bar was in order and quietly began to leave. He’d need to be a bit more <em>sedate</em> to muscle through handling these troops. Spying the bar stall just inside one of the tunnel entrances, Danse began to head in that direction. A yell of pain rang out from one of the recruits behind him.</p><p>            “What did Gunther and I just show you?! The pointy end goes <em>outward!</em>”</p><p>#</p><p>            “How many landmines are we sitting on now?” Preston said, carrying a box full of landmines as Nora and Deacon snuck ahead and disarmed each of the traps.</p><p>            “That’s number nine,” Ronnie sighed. “Someone was <em>busy</em> down here”.</p><p>            “These tunnels are very…<em>complex</em>. Kinda reminds me of a certain field trip I took, remember Deacon? How opposed would Doctor Mercer be to setting up an office down here?”</p><p>            “She’s starting to warm up to the idea. Boss, we should talk about that. There’s been a development. We’ve sighted a <em>lot</em> of Brotherhood hanging around Bunker Hill. PAM doesn’t think there’s a high chance of attack; she’s more convinced that they’re trying to set up a permanent set-up near Bunker Hill for trade. The problem is, the more of them that come through…”</p><p>            “The harder it is for the mail service to function”.</p><p>            “Exactly. Now, the good doctor’s beginning to warm up to the idea of diverting packages to the Castle since there’s so many caravans leaving us already. She wants to know how involved you are with the Brotherhood, though. I haven’t <em>told</em> her anything just yet, but…I mean, sooner or later, you’re going to have to break the news”.</p><p>            “I imagine she’s not going to take the wedding invitation well,” Nora said cryptically.</p><p>            “I have no idea what they’re talking about,” Ronnie Shaw muttered.</p><p>            “They do that; the Minutemen have gotten some <em>very</em> interesting friends. Some of them are more…<em>roundabout</em> than others”.</p><p>            “As long as you ain’t talking about chem smuggling, I think I know when to turn a blind eye,” Ronnie nodded, beginning to understand. “I’ve done some mercenary work in Bunker Hill during my vacation from the Minutemen. I’ve picked up a couple things”.</p><p>            “Don’t tell me you learned some interesting things while you were on vacation?” Deacon laughed. “<em>Are you a tourist</em>?”</p><p>            “You little whippersnapper…Deacon, was it? Do you have a <em>Geiger counter</em>?”</p><p>            “Mine is in the fucking shop! Man, I’m impressed…”</p><p>            “I know all kinds of things about these tunnels; where the secret doors are, for example. General, you thinking of inviting some friends over?”</p><p>            “Now more than ever,” Nora said. “Too many things to worry about by myself; I could use some extra help, and I know our friends could use a new hiding place”.</p><p>            “We’ll have to talk to Dez about it, though she may still take some convincing,” Deacon sighed. “She’s only concerned about packages most of the time. That’s fine and all but I wish she’d save some of her attention for actual <em>human</em> problems, you know?”</p><p>            They’d cleared the last landmine they could find in the area. “We’re almost halfway through the tunnels,” Ronnie advised the rest of the group. Beyond where they were standing, they could hear movement.</p><p>            “Shit. Sentry bot!” Deacon whispered.</p><p>            “<em>Sarge</em>?!” Ronnie said incredulously. “Don’t worry, General, he’s one of ours! Sarge! It’s me! Ronnie Shaw!”</p><p>            The Sentry Bot, barely able to fit past the section of tunnel they were in, scanned Ronnie as she ran forward to greet the long-lost guardian of the tunnels. “Comparing intruders to known Minuteman roster…<em>error. File corruption detected. Initiating defensive protocols</em>”.</p><p>#</p><p>            When he’d calmed himself down at the bar with a couple of shots of whiskey and a Nuka-Cola Quantum for a chaser, Danse counted out a few extra Caps to hand to the bartender.</p><p>            “Thanks for the talk, civilian”.</p><p>            “Hey, no problem!” The bartender, a portly old man by the name of Dennis, polished a few beer glasses and smiled at Danse intently. “Now you remember what I said. You said it yourself, you wanna see the Brotherhood do the best job they can for the Commonwealth. I think you folks are on the right path helping the Minutemen out with some of the heavy lifting. I know some of these settlers are knuckle-heads when it comes to fighting, but you just gotta lend them a helping hand, huh? Consider it a golden opportunity”.</p><p>            “Indeed. I’ll take your advice to heart. Here’s ten Caps extra for the stellar bar service”.</p><p>            “Appreciate it. I wish more of those Brotherhood folks were just like you”.</p><p>            “Well, that’s a comp—” the sound of cannon fire <em>dangerously </em>close to the Castle walls shook the bar. The bar owner ducked under the bar counter as Danse rose from his chair and rushed to the stairs leading up to the Castle walls.</p><p>            <em>What the hell was that?!</em> Once he’d reached the top of the walls, he looked out over the wall to notice a few new Minutemen trying to manipulate an old pre-War <em>cannon</em>.</p><p>            “Why the <em>hell</em> are you playing with that thing?!” Danse screamed.</p><p>            “Oh! Sorry about that, Paladin! We were just pushing this thing inside”.</p><p>            <em>“Inside?!</em>”</p><p>            “Well yeah,” the leader of the group mentioned sheepishly. “Y’see, we figured if something breaches the walls, we could use this thing as some extra backup”.</p><p>            “And fire at your own walls?!” Danse asked incredulously. <em>Are these people really that stupid?!</em> “Absolutely not! I can’t believe I’m saying this, but put that fucking cannon back where you found it or so help me, I’ll…!” He didn’t have to say another word. The Minutemen had already begun doing as he asked. Exasperated and not wanting to deal with anymore hardships for the day, Danse turned around and went back to the bar to ask for a bottle of whiskey for his bunk for the night. It would take <em>plenty</em> of assistance to get to sleep tonight.</p><p>#</p><p>            “I can’t believe we fucking blew that thing up,” Deacon said. The entire group was exhausted after overpowering Sarge. Their saving grace had been Preston realizing that the land mines they’d picked up from the earlier portions of the Castle armory were still usable. With Nora distracting the sentry bot, Preston quickly re-activated the mines, threw them down into the corridor where the Sentry Bot was, and grabbed the others before the explosions hit.</p><p>            “Good thinking Preston,” Nora gulped.</p><p>            “Too bad Sarge went haywire. He’s been guarding the Castle since forever, as far as I know,” Ronnie lamented. “Anyway, there’s a terminal up ahead that leads up to the armory. We can unlock the doors and pop back out on the other side. We might be a bit <em>late</em> for your friend, though”.</p><p>            “I’m sure Danse’ll find a way to keep himself busy. He’s always free to bust out of his shell and come down here if he’s that concerned,” Nora said.</p><p>            “We already cleared the way for him,” Preston smiled. “I’m sure he’ll be happy to see us…”</p><p>            “Ah, <em>there’s</em> that terminal. Oh gosh durnit, it’s been so long,” Ronnie grumbled. “You folks sit tight, I used to know this password…”</p><p>            As Ronnie Shaw took several minutes to go through different passwords, Nora decided to pull Preston and Deacon aside. There was much news to discuss.</p><p>            “So,” Deacon said. “You gonna tell us what really happened after we saw you disappear in that flash of light?”</p><p>            “I was at the Institute for two days,” Nora said in a hushed voice, ensuring Ronnie couldn’t hear. “I found a whole <em>list</em> of escaped synths and their last known whereabouts on their mainframe, Deacon”.</p><p>            “The Institute mainframe? That must have taken some impressive work”.</p><p>            “I had help. We need to tell Dez I found Patriot”.</p><p>            “That’s the best news I’ve heard all fucking week, y’know?”</p><p>            “Good, because I’m about to break your heart. I had to download that information separately from what else I took off the mainframe so that the Brotherhood couldn’t get a hold of it, so I don’t have it with me. I’m going to have to make a second trip back to the Institute to get that tape to you; the Brotherhood searched me the first time around, so I didn’t dare risk bringing it with me”.</p><p>            “We sure the Institute doesn’t know you did that?”</p><p>            “I was very careful”.</p><p>            “I hope so, but I trust you. Get that information to Dez and she’ll <em>have </em>to start sending packages this way. We’re talking about the fucking motherload. Problem is…that relay is all busted up, boss. I’m not sure we can get it working again”.</p><p>            “I can get back in,” Nora said. “The Institute want me to bring something back from the Commonwealth for them”.</p><p>            “What’s the something?” Preston asked worriedly.</p><p>            “A missing synth. B5-92. He turned raider after a Railroad mindwipe and now he’s terrorizing people left and right out of Libertalia”.</p><p>            “Oh…oh boy,” Deacon sighed. “Well…one package that made it out and went bad, or a million more who we don’t even know about? Man, that’s a terrible dilemma”.</p><p>            “You wanna tell me about dilemmas, Deacon?” She scoffed. Both Deacon and Preston raised eyebrows at Nora as she calmed herself down and whispered, “…could you both keep a secret for me? You can tell <em>no one</em>”. Nora’s eyes focused on Ronnie to make sure the veteran Minuteman was still actively focused on the terminal.</p><p>            “I’ve got your back, General,” Preston said.</p><p>            “Hell, I like you,” Deacon nodded. “Sometimes I <em>wonder</em> about you, but…y’know”.</p><p>            “Two things,” Nora sighed. “First…speaking of dilemmas. I found Shaun; he’s alive. <em>No one</em> can know this, but he isn’t the little boy they led me to believe. <em>He’s the leader of the Institute</em>”.</p><p>            “Normally you save the worst information for last!” Deacon scolded her.</p><p>            “Damn…General. That’s…I’m sorry…”</p><p>            “I’m still figuring that situation out in my head, but we have another matter we have to worry about. I found out a lot from the database I pulled from the Institute. They have <em>hundreds</em> of missing synths that they’ve lost over the years. Most of these synths are synths the Railroad already caught and memory-wiped over the years to protect them”.</p><p>            “Tell me something I don’t know,” Deacon murmured.</p><p>            “Deacon, Preston…<em>one of those memory-wiped synths is Danse”</em>.</p><p>#</p><p>            He’d taken a couple of swigs from the whiskey bottle just to relieve the stress headache that had built up in his temples as he walked back to the armory door. His plan was to sit by the door and wait for Nora and the others to emerge from the other side of the door. They were taking a suspicious amount of time, but something told him not to worry. Trying not to step on her toes too much, and avoiding the idea of climbing out of his power armor again, he stood by the armory door and waited silently.</p><p>            The sound of <em>chirping</em> got his attention. Curious, Danse decided to follow the chirping to see where the noise was coming from. One of the Minutemen had found a small animal and was fussing with it. After watching what they were trying to do, he finally became frustrated and decided to ask them directly…</p><p>            “…what are you doing?”</p><p>            “Oh! I’m getting this beast ready for war, sir!”</p><p>            “Is that why you’ve put that spiked collar on it? Are you <em>gluing</em> fake dog ears to him?”</p><p>            “It’s to make him look more intimidating!”</p><p>            “What’s your name?”</p><p>            “Todd”.</p><p>            “Todd…you realize that’s a baby mole rat, right?”</p><p>            “Of course sir! He’s tame…but the enemy doesn’t know that, sir! When they see him, they’ll think he’s just a vicious brute!” Danse couldn’t contain the flabbergasted look on his face as he watched the chirping baby mole rat sit silently in the corner, eating a carrot.</p><p>            “Todd…vicious beast? <em>It’s not even SIX INCHES HIGH</em>”.</p><p>            “Well that’s what the ears are for! To make him taller”.</p><p>            Something in Danse <em>snapped</em>. Flicking the cork off of the whiskey bottle, he held one hand out with a finger pointed upwards, gesturing for Todd to stay silent and wait. Todd watched, both impressed and horrified, as Danse began promptly chugging some of the whiskey. After the Paladin had wiped his mouth, he turned around and screamed into the courtyard.</p><p>            <em>RECRUITS! FRONT COURTYARD. NOW.</em></p><p>            When Ronnie Shaw opened the armory door from the other side later in the day, the General of the Minutemen emerged to find an absolutely <em>livid</em> Danse throwing carrots at the Minutemen recruits while they marched in formation. Ronnie Shaw marveled at the speed in which Danse had managed to whip the new recruits into following orders without question, while everyone else questioned what had happened while they were gone to make Danse react in such a way in the first place.</p><p>            “C-Can they <em>malfunction</em>?” Deacon asked worriedly.</p><p>            Danse could be seen chuckling another carrot at a recruit’s head. The carrot ricocheted off of the recruit’s head with a <em>thunk</em> as screaming could be heard in the distance.</p><p>           “GODDAMNED LAMAR CAN GET INTO FORMATION WITH ONE CARROT AND I DIDN’T EVEN HAVE TO THROW IT AT HIM! NOW HOW MANY MORE CARROTS IS IT GOING TO TAKE BEFORE YOU MORONS FINALLY LEARN TO HOLD A GODDAMNED BAYONET PROPERLY?! THE POINTY END GOES <strong>WHERE</strong>?!”</p><p>           “OUT TO THE ENEMY, SIR?!”</p><p>           “WHAT HAPPENS TO THE NEXT ASSWIPE I SEE POINTING THE GODDAMNED BAYONET AT HIMSELF?!”</p><p>           “THEY GET IT SHOVED UP THEIR ASSES, SIR!”</p><p>           “What the hell?! What happened?! Why's he throwing carrots at them?! Why is there a baby mole rat sitting next to Danse?” Preston asked, horrified. A passing Minuteman laughed and remarked, “oh, that’s Lamar. I guess Danse took a liking to him!"</p><p>           “I…I’m going to have to talk to that man,” Nora winced.</p><p>           “Actually, let him yell at the idjits a bit longer, General. Pretty please?” Ronnie Shaw laughed. “I was getting tired of changing diapers…”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0038"><h2>38. Strange Bedfellows (Pt. 1)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 38: In which Nora works on her alliances.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>STRANGE BEDFELLOWS (Pt. 1)</h1><p>
  <em>“My, my simple sir, this ain’t gonna work/Mind my wicked words and tipsy topsy slurs/I can’t take this place, no I can’t take this place/I just wanna go where I can get some space” – Glass Animals “Gooey”</em>
</p><hr/><p>The time spent in the Castle tunnels had been well-worth the effort of taking down a Sentry Bot in close quarters. The armory held numerous treasures, the crème-de-la-crème of which was a schematic for artillery. Deacon and Ronnie Shaw spent the next two days down in the tunnels, discussing the hidden portions of the tunnels and outfitting them into a Railroad safehouse. Preston and Nora debated the use and setup of artillery around the Castle while Danse occupied his time focusing on whipping the new Minutemen recruits into a formidable militia.</p><p>            “You sure putting that kind of weaponry in the hands of the Minutemen is such a good idea?” Danse asked one day. “What if you’ve given them the keys to defeating the Brotherhood?”</p><p>            “It’d be a bit weird for the Minutemen and the Brotherhood to get into a spat <em>now</em>,” Nora rolled her eyes.</p><p>            “Strange bedfellows,” Deacon mused, prompting Nora to rub at her temples in frustration.</p><p>            “It’s not like the Brotherhood’s the only target worth artillery,” Ronnie chided Danse. “Deathclaws? Super Mutants? I know you people have Vertibirds, but I’m sure you’d agree it’d be nice for the Minutemen not to call the Brotherhood every time they needed to rain fire down on threats from miles away?”</p><p>            Sergeant Shaw turned out to be a likeable individual, under the spitfire personality. On the night of the 24<sup>th</sup>, Ronnie and Nora took some time off together to sit in the General’s quarters, now furnished with a bed and some desks, and share a bottle of bourbon over the stories of Nora’s journey to the General’s chair. Nora found herself taking after Maxson a bit in the way she’d wanted her quarters furnished, utilizing most of the space as a meeting room and walling off a smaller portion with makeshift partitions as her actual personal quarters.</p><p>            “That’s a damn shame about your son, General,” Ronnie sighed, downing her fourth shot. “I lost one of my two boys in a Super Mutant raid; he went the Minutemen route like I did, and I regretted it”.  </p><p>            “At least you got to <em>raise</em> your son,” Nora mumbled.</p><p>            “It’s two different kinds of pain, General; having someone and then losin’ them, or cryin’ over someone you never really had at all. Still, I suppose with your husband gone, you get the ‘best’ of both worlds. It’s a messy situation; I can’t say I envy you”.</p><p>            “Well…you bought me a nice bottle of bourbon,” Nora chuckled for the first time in days. “That’s done more to dull the pain than a lot of other things”.</p><p>            “Every now and again we need a little numbin’, but don’t let it get to your head. The Minutemen might finally be back in business again and we don’t need you gettin’ yourself killed and ruinin’ it”. It wasn’t long after that note that Ronnie Shaw excused herself. Having a moment alone, Nora looked down at her Pip-Boy. The Courser chip caught her eye as she manipulated her Pip-Boy controls to initiate a request for teleportation back to the Institute. Reaching Libertalia covertly, on foot, would require passing through Railroad territory. There was a certain holotape waiting in a drawer at the Institute for her. The Pip-Boy flickered for a moment as a return transmission reached it, and the world around her disappeared in a flash, replaced by an all-too-familiar relay and an all-too-familiar elevator ride down to the atrium of the Institute. Justin Ayo, rather than Shaun, was waiting for her.</p><p>            “You’re back empty-handed,” he noted.</p><p>            “I’m just here for a shower and a resupply. It’s time for me to get to Libertalia”.</p><p>            “You waited an awfully long time”.</p><p>            “Smooth-talking the Brotherhood and the Minutemen into understanding that I’m not a synth replacement takes <em>work</em>, Doctor. Work takes time”.</p><p>            “You’ve been arming them too, it seems. The Minutemen have new toys…”</p><p>            “Well, the Minutemen are <em>my</em> toys,” she said coldly. She felt disgust curl up within her throat the moment she said that. It was telling of the Institute’s inherent nature that they would even consider accepting that as a valid explanation. Still, Justin Ayo smirked.</p><p>            “You’re a fascinating woman, Nora Mulyer. Carry on”.</p><p>            “Is Shaun busy?” Nora asked. “I expected to see him here”.</p><p>            “He’s asleep. Old men and babies tend to need a lot of that. You’re his mother. You should know,” Justin Ayo said smoothly before walking away.</p><p>            Her quarters had <em>obviously</em> been searched. She’d been careful to arrange her holotapes a certain way. A few of the tapes had been shuffled around, but Ayo had found no evidence of what he’d been looking for. Despite the relative disorder, the most important holotape had been among the ones left untouched. She made sure to collect that tape in particular before washing her face and heading to Requisitions to buy more fusion cells. It was important to keep her visit down to the bare minimum; wasted time would only garner suspicion. Soon, she was back in her private quarters in the Castle, making her way down to the tunnels to meet up with Deacon.</p><p>            “Well well, the only Institute agent I’ll ever be happy to see,” Deacon smirked. Ronnie Shaw had made sure to inform Nora of one particular hidden section of the Castle tunnels, hidden behind a door made to look like shelves. “Got what I asked for?”</p><p>            “Here’s the tape”.</p><p>            Deacon’s remodeling job included adding lighting, putting the hidden sections of the tunnels on their own power grid, setting up a few mattresses on the floor, and re-purposing an old terminal. He stuck the tape into the terminal before searching through the database.</p><p>            “Holy crap, boss. This is the motherload…you really are something, grabbing this”.</p><p>            “I’ve heard similar compliments”.</p><p>            “Which one is…<em>y’know</em>. Him?”</p><p>            “M7-97”. Deacon took a moment to look up the record. “Geez, so that’s what he looks like clean-shaven. This is some <em>dangerous</em> information. Imagine what happens if the Institute finds out”.</p><p>            “Or the Brotherhood…” Nora said darkly. “…the day may come when we have to shelter him here”.</p><p>            “Some people might not think he’s worth it,” Deacon muttered. “But I guess if you do, I’ll vouch for him”.</p><p>            “Think that’ll be enough?”</p><p>            “Nora, I dunno if it’s your good ol-fashioned pre-War values, of if you just won the genetic lottery, but anyone that has <em>you</em> on their side has a hell of an advantage. Working with you as much as I have so far, I already know a good thing when I see it. Whether it’s saving synths or saving people, you’ve never fallen short. Danse has friends in high places who <em>aren’t</em> the Brotherhood, whether he realizes it or not…”</p><p>            “Danse also probably won’t let us stop at the office on the way to Libertalia,” Nora said.</p><p>            “We shouldn’t stop off at HQ with him around, true. However, we’ve got the tape. Doesn’t matter which of us brings it to Dez, right? She’ll be convinced you’re on our side either way. I’ll break off with you at Bunker Hill and handle that <em>thing</em> you wanted me to take care of, sound good?”</p><p>#</p><p>            Preston and Ronnie Shaw had stayed behind to manage the Castle while Deacon and Danse accompanied Nora to Bunker Hill. In the middle of the night, while Danse slept, Deacon left Bunker Hill to head to the Railroad with a recorded message for Desdemona by Nora, in which Nora laid bare her invitation for the Railroad to formally join forces with the Minutemen. Deacon assured Nora that no matter the answer, he’d find a way to get back in contact with her. On the morning of the 27<sup>th</sup>, a confused Danse saw Nora waiting for him alone outside the Savoldi Inn.</p><p>            “Deacon’s still sleeping?”</p><p>            “He left us early. Caravan ran into trouble not far from here. I’m having him handle it”.</p><p>            “As much as I dislike Deacon, he’s good to have in a fight. Are you sure that was tactically advantageous, soldier?”</p><p>            “It couldn’t be helped. We’ll have help at Libertalia”.</p><p>            “What kind of help are we talking about?”</p><p>            “I’ll explain when we’re alone, Danse. C’mon”. The road to Nahant and to Libertalia wasn’t long from Bunker Hill; it largely required heading east via an intact bridge and then taking the main road across the island to the ship graveyard.</p><p>            “So what’s this help?” Danse asked.</p><p>            “We’ll be working with a Courser,” Nora said.</p><p>            “A <em>Courser?!</em>”</p><p>            “When the Institute want their synths back, they send a Courser. You and I both know this from Greenetech Genetics, remember? The girl?”</p><p>            “The <em>synth</em>,” Danse corrected her. “I know ‘she’ looked convincing, but you forget that synths are just machines”.</p><p>            “Yeah…<em>right</em>”.</p><p>            “You sound like you doubt me, Knight-Sergeant”.</p><p>            “I know what a synth is, Star-Paladin. I don’t have to like it”.</p><p>            “You sound like you have <em>sympathy</em> for them. That’s not a good idea to have, soldier”.</p><p>            “I’ve seen a lot of shit involving synths, Danse. Honestly, I’m getting tired of hearing the word ‘synth’”.</p><p>            “Why?”</p><p>            “I don’t want to talk about it”.</p><p>            “Sooner or later, someone’s going to have that talk with you. Now, would you prefer it be me, or Elder Maxson? Maybe Kells?”</p><p>            “Danse,” Nora interrupted him. A distraction couldn’t have come any sooner. In the distance, they could see a crowd of raider bodies lying around the entrance to Libertalia. A man --- no, synth --- was waiting for them in a trademark Courser uniform. It was X6-88.</p><p>            “You’re here,” X6 said blankly. “And you brought backup. I’m not sure I’ve ever been acquainted with the Brotherhood of Steel before”.</p><p>            “Trust me freak, you wouldn’t want to,” Danse snarled. He turned to look at Nora. “Remind me why we’re doing this?”</p><p>            “My son, for starters? Remember?” Danse was visibly biting his cheek, but offered no response.</p><p>            “He seems like a strange companion to bring along for this mission,” X6-88 mused.</p><p>            “Extra muscle. That’s all”.</p><p>            “You have the training and the equipment to handle this assignment,” X6-88 said appraisingly, sizing Danse up from behind his sunglasses quickly. “I expect you’ll co-operate”.</p><p>            “Let’s just get this over with,” Danse said quietly, still seething. Nora wondered if X6-88 knew the truth about Danse, or if it had been a good idea for her to bring Danse in such close proximity to someone specifically tasked --- <em>made</em> --- to hunt down rogue synths. The Courser seemed none the wiser as he informed Nora that the perimeter guard had been ‘neutralized’ and waited for Nora’s signal to begin the attack. While she and Danse readied their weapons, Nora reminded herself that Danse had left the Institute almost twenty years ago --- who knew if X6-88 was even that old?</p><p>            The Courser ripped apart the raider forces at Libertalia with minimal effort. Danse and Nora followed behind him with Danse picking off stragglers and Nora sharpshooting enemy snipers with her laser musket.</p><p>            “You’re rather impressive with that unconventional weapon, ma’am,” X6-88 said quickly as the group made their way through the ship graveyard and the shanty-bridges that had been erected between floating shacks. The whistle of a mini-nuke rushed over their heads as a raider with a Fat Man could be seen on a platform on the main flotilla, reloading his weapon. Danse cursed under his breath at their bad luck before noticing that Nora had already loaded her laser musket with the full amount of fusion cells and cranked the gun to full charge. She seemed like a very different person as she stood confidently on the bridge, closing one eye to let the other get a better view of what lay within her sights on the scope. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen her so resolute before.</p><p>            “Sorry, raider,” she said simply. The recoil from the fully-charged shot almost knocked her on her feet, but she caught herself on one knee before Danse could reach out to break her fall. The laser shot whizzed through the air, striking the Fat-Man wielding raider square in the head. He could see the nuclear payload launcher and the body of the man fall into the water as what had once been the raider’s head disintegrated into ashes.</p><p>            The brunt of Libertalia’s forces had been concentrated on the ring surrounding the flotilla. The raider boss, ‘Gabriel’, had been hiding in the maze of a freighter with only sparse reinforcements guarding the area between the automated lift from the ring of boats to the main vessel. Once the trio had disembarked the lift and stepped unto the main ship, they quickly worked their way to the top of the ship. At the ladder leading up to where the rest of the raiders were waiting for them, X6-88’s tone turned more urgent.</p><p>            “Hold up a moment, ma’am. There’s something important I need to tell you”.</p><p>            “Just make it quick,” Danse rolled his eyes.</p><p>            “I will,” X6 said curtly. “I’m going to give you B5-92’s reset phrase. If he hears the code phrase, the chip in his brain will be triggered. It’ll reset his cognitive functions and make him docile”.</p><p>            “I’m always up for avoiding violence,” Nora said plainly.</p><p>            “Well,” X6-88 said quickly. “He might not be alone up there. Violence may be inevitable”.</p><p>            “Works for me,” Danse muttered. “Could use the target practice…”</p><p>            “<em>Anyway</em>,” X6-88 said to Nora. “You need to say ‘B5-92, initiate factory reset’, followed by the authorization code ‘gamma-seven-one-epsilon’. Once he’s shut down, I can transport him safely back to the Institute”. With X6-88’s warning given, the group quickly scaled the ladder to the top section of the boat and emerged from a chamber to find themselves facing an entire team of raiders. B5-92 stood towards the back, unaware of what was about to happen.</p><p>            “So,” the synth raider mocked the trio. “The Brotherhood and the Institute are so desperate for resources they’re stealing from hard working gangs now?”</p><p>            Nora’s answer was not what anyone had expected: “B5-92, initiate factory reset. Authorization code gamma-seven-one-epsilon”. With no further signs of resistance, B5-92’s head and arms lowered much the same way that Nora had seen before on the synth child version of Shaun.</p><p>            “Gabriel? You okay? SHIT!” One of the raiders screamed. “They did something to him! Waste ‘em!” Before Nora could react, both Danse and X6-88 had moved into action, wiping out the supporting raiders with deadly efficiency. Danse stood silently as X6-88 walked past them and approached the disabled synth.</p><p>            “Nice work ma’am. Father will be pleased”. The Courser’s hand seemed to reach up to his neck. “This is X6-88, ready to relay back with reclaimed synth B5-92”. In a flash of light, they were both gone, leaving Danse and Nora alone to contemplate what just happened.</p><p>#</p><p>            Much to Nora’s chagrin, Danse had insisted that they return to the Prydwen to inform Maxson of the efficiency of the recall code.</p><p>            “Are you sure that’s something we need to bother with, Danse?” The Vertibird that Danse had signaled on the shores of Nahant was quickly approaching.</p><p>            “I’m positive. Any advantage we can get on neutralizing synths is important. I know you have business at the Castle and with the Institute as soon as this is done, but we should really seek out his guidance on what to do next”. It wasn’t long before the Vertibird returned them to the Prydwen, with Danse rushing to the Command Deck to meet with Maxson. Nora did her best to keep up with Danse as he bolted through the main doors.</p><p>            “Elder!”</p><p>            Maxson was looking out at Boston, in the direction of Bunker Hill. Danse’s voice had caught him by surprise.</p><p>            “Star-Paladin, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with…oh. Knight-Sergeant”.</p><p>            “We learned <em>valuable</em> intelligence about the Institute while Mulyer was working with that Courser from the Institute”.</p><p>            “Reclaiming the synth? It must be important if you came to me first instead of the Institute. I expected you to run back in and try and see your son again”.</p><p>            “Well…that <em>was</em> the plan,” Nora sighed.</p><p>            “There’s apparently a way to turn synths <em>off</em>,” Danse explained. “We saw this in action at Libertalia; the Courser had Nora say a code-phrase and the hostile synth shut down instantly”.</p><p>            “That’s impressive,” Maxson said with surprise. “We may be able to use that to our advantage. Proctor Quinlan’s only halfway done decrypting the data on the holotape you provided for us, Knight-Sergeant. Hopefully we find some relevant information about this development. Danse, I’ll send for you again when she leaves for the Castle. Knight-Sergeant…stay here. I need to ask you something”.</p><p>            Once Danse had left, Arthur Maxson gestured for Nora to follow him back up to his quarters.</p><p>            “Can we make this quick, Elder? I really don’t feel like having lunch…”</p><p>            “It’s important”.</p><p>            “Then why couldn’t it wait for the Command Deck?”</p><p>            “I needed to address a couple things with you alone, Nora”.</p><p>            “Like…?”</p><p>            He looked at her with concern. “You seem a bit more coherent now. I’d like to know what really happened when you went to the Institute”.</p><p>            “I’m sorry?”</p><p>            “Your son. You didn’t tell us the whole story. I know you’re hiding something”.</p><p>            Nora gulped. <em>How</em> had Maxson figured that out? She remembered being emotional, of course, but even at her most irrational and panicked she wasn’t stupid enough to tell them that Shaun was Father. She knew enough about the Brotherhood to know that they wouldn’t handle that information well…<em>right</em>? Looking at Maxson now, whose face was marred with <em>worry</em>, she suddenly found herself to be unsure. He extended one arm to touch her shoulder gently, not breaking eye-contact.</p><p>            “I <em>want</em> to help you,” he said calmly, “but I can’t if you’re hiding something from me”.</p><p>            She felt a lump in her throat. No one had looked at her like that since Nate. Staring off into the distance, questioning what to say and what to leave out, she wondered if she might have been overestimating Maxson’s zealotry.</p><p>            “…did they turn him into a synth?”</p><p>            “Wha?”</p><p>            “Your son. <em>Did they replace him</em>?”</p><p>            “No, they didn’t”.</p><p>            “Be honest”. He pulled up a second chair from his dining table and scooted closer to her.</p><p>            “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you the truth,” she whispered. She was shaking out of both sadness and fear. Unbeknownst to her, the Brotherhood Elder <em>hated</em> seeing her like this more than he hated the synths. Watching her fear and anxiety over the fate of her son was only fueling his hatred of anything affiliated with the Institute. Something else in him just wanted to get her to <em>stop</em> shaking; to calm her down and reassure her everything would be alright in the end, although even he couldn’t be sure.</p><p>            “If he’s a synth and you <em>hid</em> that from us…” Maxson began, before surprising her. “…we understand”.</p><p>            “What?”</p><p>            “Nora, you’re his mother. Your first instinct is always going to be to protect your son, and that’s <em>fine</em>, because you’re human. The Proctors, Danse, Captain Kells and myself…we’re already well aware you’re as loyal as it gets to the Brotherhood. You can’t have your own maternal instincts held against you. <em>I</em> am not going to hold that against you…but I need to know the truth”.</p><p>            “He’s <em>not</em> a synth,” Nora murmured. For a moment, she wondered if Maxson believed her. Before she could contemplate what to say next, she felt her tongue <em>slip</em>.</p><p>            “…they needed his DNA for their synths. That’s why they took him from me…” She couldn’t believe she’d just said that, and before she could stop herself and retract her statement, she felt Maxson jump.</p><p>            “<em>What</em>”.</p><p>            “They…oh god! I shouldn’t have sai—” He was much stronger than she was, holding her in place to face him as he looked her in the eyes, piercing blue shaking her down to her core.</p><p>            “What did you just say. Repeat it”.</p><p>            “I…I…” she was panicking now, not sure what to expect next. She’d never <em>seen</em> Maxson so angry before; if he could have torn the whole ship apart in his rage, he surely would have.</p><p>            “Repeat it!” He roared.</p><p>            “They needed pre-War DNA, Maxson!” She yelled. “So they took him and they raised him and they used him to refine the synths, <em>and now he’s theirs!</em> <em>THERE! I SAID IT!</em>” With one swift motion, she felt him pull her to him and squeeze her into a <em>tight </em>hug. This was not the reaction she expected from him --- not at all. The Elder of the Brotherhood of Steel hardly seemed like the type to comfort someone who’d been hiding something like this from him.</p><p>            “And…” he asked softly. “You were carrying that around the whole time?” She said nothing, still shaking in fear in his arms. At that moment, he felt truly terrible, wondering to himself how paranoid the whole experience had made her. He searched his mind for something, <em>anything</em>, to reassure him. This wasn’t his strong suit, but he wanted it to be. For her.</p><p>            He’d burn down the whole Institute for her if it meant never seeing her like this again.</p><p>            Not knowing what else to do, he leaned in close and planted one, singular kiss on her forehead, softly. For a moment, Nora considered telling him the rest of the truth, about his <em>age, </em>but she questioned her ability to remain coherent as she focused on regaining control of her senses. Telling Maxson even <em>half</em> the truth unloaded a considerable weight from her shoulders. With the loss of that burden, she felt her eyes watering and her cheeks moistening. Maxson was wiping her face with his sleeves, giving her all the attention and sympathy and comfort she’d been lacking. She found herself looking at him the way she looked at Nate long ago as the last bit of control left her body and she buried her face into his chest, breathing in heavily, searching for some sense of long-lost security.</p><p>            His grip tightened on her. He’d planned to get a steady hold on her and walk her to an empty bunk to convince her to lay down. It was a shock to his system when she lifted her head forward and kissed him, her own grip on him solidifying. At first, he tried to peel himself away, but something <em>primal</em> quickly took over as his desire to kiss her back and deepen the situation overtook him. He didn’t even answer when the intercom went off, with Kells asking if Maxson would be able to review a report from Bunker Hill about a new development there. Before either Nora or Arthur knew it, they were on the bed, tearing each other’s clothes off, with her legs locked around his hips, begging him not to pull away.</p><p>            He’d had to cover his mouth with her own when he finally took her, tasting her frenzied moans as two-hundred years of tension and sensory-deprivation released itself. He’d never seen anything so beautiful before, or felt anything so <em>damned fucking good</em>. It wasn’t long before he found himself climaxing inside her, shuddering as he growled her name with every last thrust. <em>His</em> legs were weak when he rose from the bed to put his clothes on, paging Kells with ragged breath to inform him that he’d be down to the Command Deck as soon as he could. Looking back at Nora, he noticed that she was barely awake, breathing heavily on the bed with half-closed eyes, still processing what had just happened. Once his flight suit and his coat were on, he pulled the sheet over her for decorum’s sake, with a voice in his head complaining about already missing the view.</p><p>            “I’ll be back soon. If you leave first, stop by the Command Deck and tell me”.</p><p>            “…I can’t believe we just did that”. Nora whispered to him.</p><p>            “You didn’t realize already I loved you?” He chuckled at her meekly. A tinge of regret hit him in regards to the fact that <em>this</em> was when it finally happened. He’d hoped for something more romantic, but…</p><p>            He stopped himself. What happened had already happened. Watching Nora doze off, he had no other regrets.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So...I'm not really much for writing sex scenes. But this was coming. Between the table incident and things that are yet to occur, if it was going to happen, it was happening now.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0039"><h2>39. Strange Bedfellows (Pt. 2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 39: In which Nora finds the proverbial pot has begun to boil.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>STRANGE BEDFELLOWS (Pt. 2)</h1><p>
  <em>“I was just guessin’/at numbers and figures/pullin’ the puzzles apart/questions of science/science and progress/do not speak as loud as my heart” – Coldplay “The Scientist”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            A holotape <em>full</em> of synths and their last known locations. The Railroad had hit the fucking jackpot; Desdemona sat at her terminal, cigarette in hand, taking a deep breath as she considered the possibilities.</p><p>            “PAM”.</p><p>            “Acknowledging Railroad-Alpha”.</p><p>            “Did you finish the tape?”</p><p>            “This unit is still calculating all possibilities. Estimated time of matrix completion: 30 hours. Unit in standby mode, able to take limited commands only”.</p><p>            <em>Limited commands</em>. She wasn’t calculating anything else right now, but she could access already completed calculations off of matrixes and perform a few basic operations.</p><p>            “Any idea how many synths we can already find with this new information?”</p><p>            “Current models predict new synth intake may rise by between 12-16 synths, accounting for statistical variance. Exact number to be determined when out of standby mode”.</p><p>            “Any other major calculations we should be aware of, PAM?”</p><p>            “Processing. Information undetermined at this time”.</p><p>            “Patience is a virtue,” Desdemona reminded herself. “…and the Negotiator? What’s the likelihood of her plan actually working?”</p><p>            “Processing. Near 100%”.</p><p>            “You trust her that much?”</p><p>            “Error: this unit does not ‘trust’. All information suggests that strategy proposed by ‘Negotiator’ likely to increase success rate of Railroad activity. Exact margin of improvement undetermined at this time”.</p><p>            “But it’s got to be <em>substantial</em> if you’re bringing it up when you’re still in standby mode…”</p><p>            “Recommendation: Establish Mercer Safehouse in underground tunnels of location ‘Fort Independence’ with Minutemen co-operation”. Desdemona took another puff of her cigarette, figuring out in her mind who to move to the Castle. When she’d finally made up her mind, she got up from her chair and walked over to Dr. Carrington. The irate doctor was mixing Stimpaks, mumbling under his breath about the worries that the Railroad had brought into their lives.</p><p>            “Carrington?”</p><p>            “Yes Desdemona?”</p><p>            “Deacon, Glory, and three synths. Tell them to move to Mercer Safehouse. We’re going to give this a test run”.</p><p>            “We’re moving forward with Mercer Safehouse?”</p><p>            “Via the Negotiator, at the Castle. We can have Glory pretend to be a mercenary looking for Minuteman work or something, I don’t know. It’s worth looking into the strong recommendations that PAM and Deacon both put forth”.</p><p>            “It’s <em>risky</em>,” Doctor Carrington muttered. “The Negotiator has barely a lick of training….and yet she does now command one of the largest caravan and settlement networks in the Commonwealth”.</p><p>            “She brought a tape full of synths to our door. It’s worth giving this operation a shot. We can’t keep routing synths to Bunker Hill, not with the Brotherhood so close”.</p><p>            “And Negotiator’s ties to the Brotherhood? Have we considered those?”</p><p>            “A Brotherhood soldier never would have let us <em>touch</em> that tape, not even to earn our trust. I’m giving it the go-ahead, Stanley”. Carrington sighed.</p><p>            “Very well, I’ll get Deacon and Glory together”.</p><p>            With a bit of doubt in her mind, Desdemona returned to her private terminal and went to start typing notes on the latest developments.</p><p>            “Alert!” PAM told her after she’d written two paragraphs. “Threat assessment at Bunker Hill at elevated levels based on new matrix”.</p><p>            “Oh god, now what?” Desdemona worried.</p><p>            “Institute records show synths in transit held at Bunker Hill have been observed by Institute Coursers. Multiple Coursers assigned to these synths; 78% chance Institute will storm this location to retrieve all synths in one operation”.</p><p>            “It’ll be a <em>disaster</em>,” Desdemona panicked, stopping what she was doing to rise from the chair and interrogate PAM further.</p><p>            “Brotherhood forces in close proximity to Bunker Hill highly likely to become involved; estimated chance of conflict if Institute forces converge on Bunker Hill estimated at <em>ninety-six</em> percent”.</p><p>            “Fuck”. Disaster was too sweet of a term; Bunker Hill was going to be a <em>bloodbath</em>. With the Brotherhood’s involvement came the likelihood that there would be no stopping them from following the survivors back to the Church. They were almost at game over. Rushing back out of the room to get Carrington, Desdemona began to make plans for the events ahead. Somewhere after the fall of the Switchboard, she’d known that the Railroad would need a miracle. It had taken years of work to secure the Railroad’s continued survival, and Desdemona knew all too well that the time for miracles was running out.</p><p>#</p><p>            Justin Ayo stood at the observation bay of the reclamation chamber and watched as B5-92 began the reclamation process. A couple of trained technicians stood by the reclamation chair, allowing the steel barbs on the chair to hold the synth in place along the spinal cord as its cognitive processes were wiped and the machine was returned to its default state. When this process was done, if B5-92 were still operable, the synth unit would have to undergo an outrageous amount of processing to be fully operational again. It needed a bath, clean clothes, and a long-overdue haircut.</p><p>            “How long was B5-92 out there?” Alana Secord, Justin’s second-in-command, watched the process alongside her superior with interest. Ayo and Secord disagreed on many things, but Justin still respected her for being a reliable member of the reclamation team.</p><p>            “Since 2284. Amazing what these synths get into when they think they’re the ones in control. We thought we lost the unit at Goodneighbor until a positive ID came in last January from one of the watchers. From there, we just had to bide our time”.</p><p>            “It <em>is</em> amazing. Usually synths that haven’t been gone that long are pretty easy to recommission, but with all the chem use…” Alana’s fears were legitimate; an initial diagnostic found that B5-92 had used ludicrous amounts of <em>Psycho</em>. That much of the drug in a human being was enough to stop their heart or render them permanently brain damaged. A well-made synth unit could handle the strain of the drug, but with the memory-wipe already having damaged some of B5-92’s internal circuitry and such prolonged use, it would be a blessing if the drug didn’t interfere with the reclamation process. A few minutes later, Justin found himself shaking his head as B5-92 began to shake in the chair, even with the barbs holding it in place. Frothy, blood-tinged vomit was emerging from the synth’s mouth.</p><p>            “What a waste,” Justin muttered. “Now we have no other choice but to recycle the unit”. As he walked away from the observation deck to report the day’s events on a terminal, Courser X4-27 approached him.</p><p>            “Sir, we’ve made the necessary preparations for our operations at Bunker Hill. We should be ready to move forward with our plans”.</p><p>            “Excellent, X4. Have the assigned Courser units hold their positions and wait. We’ll be moving out soon”.</p><p>            “X6-88 has the report on ‘Mother’s’ performance at Libertalia. He speaks highly of her combat skills”.</p><p>            “I wasn’t expecting such high praise for such a fragile woman,” Ayo scoffed. “Then again, if she’d have been even <em>somewhat </em>of a hindrance, we likely wouldn’t have managed to get B5-92 back in that chair. Very well”. The head of the Synth Retention Bureau stopped in his tracks for a moment, thinking pensively on a <em>novel</em> idea that suddenly hit him before looking back at X4-27.</p><p>            “Sir?”</p><p>            “X4, if she did <em>so</em> well at Libertalia as X6 says…maybe we could use her assistance with Bunker Hill. I know she’s quite the popular one on the surface. As a matter of fact, I’m going to see if I can’t get a hold of Father about this issue…”</p><p>#</p><p>            It wasn’t long before Maxson managed to clean himself up and hurry down to the Command Deck. Lancer-Captain Kells was waiting for the young Elder, reports in hand for Arthur Maxson to review.</p><p>            “What’s the latest, Captain?” Maxson said hurriedly. Rushing into the situation with a commanding air was the best way to take attention off of the fact that when Captain Kells called, Maxson was seldom, if ever, <em>this</em> late.</p><p>            “Reports from Bunker Hill suggest elevated energy readings akin to what we’ve observed after the Institute use teleportation. We think they’re gearing up for something within the area. Knight-Captain Ulysses’ reports indicated the high likelihood of Railroad activity in that location. This is all the more evident from the fact that Knight-Sergeant Mulyer had to frequent the area so much when she was making contact with whatever <em>underground</em> entities she utilized for the teleportation hijacker”.</p><p>            Kells paused before adding, “speaking of which…have you spoken with her about that, at all? We can’t overlook the possibility of one of our best assets being compromised by those fanatics”.</p><p>            “I attempted to,” Maxson said defensively. His usual resting posture was to hold both hands behind his back at rest; a habit left over from many drills during his youth as a Brotherhood squire. Right now, he found himself clutching one hand a bit tighter than the other. Kells didn’t seem to notice. “I didn’t get the chance while we were talking about the Institute”. His tone was half angry, half remorseful. Captain Kells raised one eyebrow slowly, interrogating Maxson first without a single word.</p><p>            When that didn’t work, the Captain resorted to polite but firm verbal questioning. “And what <em>became</em> of that talk?” It was a strange position Kells found himself in, carefully coaxing information out of a superior officer who was much younger and much more emotionally inexperienced. As the second-highest ranking person within the Commonwealth Brotherhood, Kells felt a sense of <em>duty</em> to coach Arthur Maxson in those times where the younger man’s inexperience or youth became clear. It wasn’t <em>often</em>. The Brotherhood Elder’s voice further puzzled Kells from its <em>sad</em> tone at first. It was rare to hear Maxson betray his emotions, and rarer still to hear him address the Captain by his first name.</p><p>            “I always knew the Institute were capable of terrible things, Jonathan”.</p><p>            “I don’t think I like where this is going,” Kells said, suppressing a gulp. “What did she tell you?”</p><p>            “We were wrong. They <em>didn’t</em> turn her son into a synth”.</p><p>            “Then?”</p><p>            “They’ve been holding the boy, raising him, brainwashing him, and harvesting his genetic material to refine the synth design. You have no idea what it took to pull that from her. She was absolutely hysterical”.</p><p>            “By god, they stole an infant for <em>that</em>?” Kells and Maxson were both thinking the same thing, imaging faceless Institute scientists jamming needles into a screaming boy, taking blood and bone marrow and Creator-only-knew-what-else. Their collective disgust was quickly solidifying itself into fury, further justifying the long journey and the losses it had taken to mount an offensive campaign against the Institute. Maxson, already having traded his sadness in for anger, put one hand on the glass of the observation deck and stared out over the Commonwealth.</p><p>            “Danse and Mulyer brought us some <em>valuable</em> information from Libertalia. Apparently synth units, even rogue ones, can be disabled with a code. Creator willing, Quinlan will have something for us about this subject from his office soon. Nora’s already given us everything she can”.</p><p>            “<em>Nora</em> has been through a lot,” Kells said candidly. His unassuming statement was one that Maxson knew to be veiled praise for the poor woman sleeping upstairs. “Still, that doesn’t explain why you didn’t press her about the Railroad”.</p><p>            “The woman’s <em>traumatized</em>,” Maxson growled. “I’m not going to torture her further by putting the threat of the Railroad on her back. Has she been spotted again contacting the Railroad around the Bunker Hill area?”</p><p>            “No. She’s largely stayed within the Castle”.</p><p>            “And have you been monitoring the radio signals going in and out of the Castle?”</p><p>            “Of course?”</p><p>            “Anything concerning, Kells?”</p><p>            “I’ve had scouts bribe multiple caravans on the more cryptic transmissions. The answers all point consistently at the Minutemen”.</p><p>            “So in other words, there’s no evidence she’s betrayed us for the Railroad”.</p><p>            “None, sir”.</p><p>            “Good,” Maxson said. He removed his hand from the glass, instead placing one finger on the window and pointing at Bunker Hill. “We don’t make any mention of this to Knight-Sergeant Mulyer. She <em>mentioned</em> the Institute were more concerned with what she knew of the Railroad rather than us when she was down there. There’s no question now that Bunker Hill is hiding synths somewhere in its midst”.</p><p>            “<em>Underneath</em> the settlement. The whole <em>town</em> appears to be complicit”.</p><p>            “Is it a Minuteman-affiliated settlement?”</p><p>            “No, sir, though it’s a major trading hub in the Commonwealth. Minuteman caravans pass through there like any other”.</p><p>            <em>There will always be the possibility for collateral damage</em>, Maxson advised himself. He turned his head slightly to look at the entrance to the Command Deck. Nora wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Turning back to Kells, Maxson’s gaze became icy steel.</p><p>            “The Institute are heading to Bunker Hill to collect their monstrous creations. The Railroad will be there to <em>defend</em> those aberrations of nature. We have a hub not far from Bunker Hill for trading purposes. We can mobilize a few Vertibirds in the area to be on standby, and when both our enemies meet, we’ll be blessed with a golden opportunity to kill two birds with one stone”.</p><p>            “Justice served for the Institute,” Lancer-Captain Kells mused, “…and stopping the Railroad <em>before </em>they become a problem. Smart”.</p><p>            “We can’t risk them prolonging this war or infecting the Minutemen,” Maxson nodded, killing intent dripping in his voice. “…so the troop’s orders are to wipe out <em>everything</em> standing between them and the escaped synths”.</p><p>            “I’m very glad to see you still have your priorities straight, Elder. When you told me you didn’t address the Railroad situation with Mulyer, you had me worried”.</p><p>            “It’s a worrisome situation,” Maxson sighed. “Anything else we should discuss?”</p><p>#</p><p>            Waking up in the Elder’s quarters alone, stark naked with only a sheet to cover her, was a very different kind of strange. Still feeling weak-kneed from the day’s events, she sat up a moment and contemplated the bizarre circumstances that had led her up to this point. Part of her feared telling Nate that she’d been with another man. A moment later, lucidity returned to her and she realized that, despite the wedding ring she still clung to on her right hand, Nate had been dead for sixty years. She wrapped the sheet around herself and leant back against the wall beyond where Maxson laid his head at night, internalizing what she’d never expected from him.</p><p>            Sex was inevitable. In a world where she’d purchased the Commonwealth’s security  a future at his side, she <em>knew</em> she’d end up in bed with him at some point. What she had envisioned was a cold, calculated affair: ‘lay back and think of the Brotherhood’, or something to that effect. The words ‘I love you’ (or something similar, given Maxson’s particular choice of words) was far from the sterile second marriage she’d pictured. <em>He loved her.</em> She closed her eyes, re-imaging a world after Nate where maybe, just <em>maybe</em>, she’d regain some sort of happiness in her life.</p><p>            A young, newly-minted Scribe Initiate knocked twice before calling out “sir?” Catching a glimpse of the clock, Nora noticed that it was about the time that Maxson took lunch. She debated between not answering and quietly slipping into the latrine. Gathering her clothes, she quietly began to tip-toe away from the line of sight from the front door. Unfortunately for her, the Scribe was faster, opening the door before Nora could completely slip into the latrine.</p><p>            “Hey!” The teenager, perhaps fifteen at most, let out a striking yell. “What’re you doing?!” Her yell attracted the attention of a Knight-Captain on patrol in the officer’s quarters, who quickly made his way into the room. Nora blushed before muttering to herself that this would <em>not</em> bode well for any gossip still circulating on the ship.</p><p>            “Getting dressed, Scribe…”</p><p>            “In the <em>Elder’s</em> quarters?” The teenaged scribe was quickly interrupted by the Knight-Captain, who had removed his power armor helmet in the wake of what was happening.</p><p>            “Scribe-Initiate Mulligan”.</p><p>            “Knight-Captain! There’s an intr—”</p><p>            “That’s not an intruder,” the Knight-Captain said knowingly before looking at Nora. “I guess she should have brought <em>two</em> sandwiches, Sergeant Mulyer”.</p><p>            “Captain, sir. Forgive me for not saluting, you’ve caught me at a bad time”.</p><p>            “You mind if Mulligan leaves his sandwich on the table? Should she get another?”</p><p>            “No that’s fine. I have to go let the Elder know I woke up. I’ll grab something to eat later”.</p><p>            “Of course. Sorry for disturbing you. Carry on”.</p><p>            “Hey wait! What’s going on in here?!” From the other side of the now closed lavatory door, Nora could hear the Knight-Captain hiss quickly at the Scribe-Initiate, “why didn’t you just leave it at the door?!”</p><p>            “I figured the room was empty!”</p><p>            “I know you <em>just</em> graduated from the squire program, but don’t you know not to just waltz into someone’s quarters? You just walked in on Elder Maxson’s wife! Either drop the sandwich and leave or <em>apologize </em>when she gets outside!”</p><p>            “Elder Maxson’s wife? Wait, so there <em>is</em> a Lady Maxson?! I thought the Knights were just joking around!” Nora heard herself let out a stifled laugh at the word ‘wife’ as she zipped her Vault Suit back up before opening the door and arranging her hair.</p><p>            “Yes and no,” she elaborated. “I’m not really sure what counts for <em>marriage</em> in the Brotherhood. I’m still a bit new myself”.</p><p>            “You’re already more than halfway there…” the Knight-Captain mumbled, before reddening a little and adding, “<em>sorry</em>. That joke was in poor taste, I didn’t mean to offend”.</p><p>            “So what, do I have to have the baby first, or am I just missing the name change and the feather duster for his quarters?” Nora joked back as she turned her attention to the bed and re-arranged the sheets neatly.</p><p>            “Phew. Nice to know you have more of a sense of humor than he does, Mulyer. Or are we actually <em>allowed</em> to call you Lady Maxson now?”</p><p>            “I… I dunno. It’s been a strange week, Captain”.</p><p>            “Understood, ma’am”.</p><p>            “Knight-Sergeant is fine, <em>sir</em>. Can we close up? I need to head downstairs”.</p><p>            “Oh! Yes, of course. We’ll clear out. Scribe-Initiate, back to your station”.</p><p>            “Um…” the teenager said sheepishly before adding, “I’m sorry, ma’am”,</p><p>            “My fault for not answering. Wasn’t sure how you’d react. Don’t sweat it, Mulligan”. After closing the door and making it halfway down the stairs to the Command Deck, she noticed none other than the Elder heading back to his quarters.</p><p>            “Oh! You’re awake…”</p><p>            “You told me to come find you when I woke?”</p><p>            “Yes. I wanted to make sure I knew when you were heading back to the Castle. Actually, about that: I was planning on making a stop to the Castle myself once some sensitive operations are over. We should talk about fortifying some of your settlements further and strengthening trade between the airport and your eastern settlements”.</p><p>            He paused, before muttering, “…are you <em>feeling</em> alright?”</p><p>            “I feel fine,” Nora nodded, lowering her voice. “I…haven’t done <em>that</em> since Nate, and it was exhausting, but—”</p><p>            “I’m not talking about <em>that</em>,” Maxson blushed, “…though that’s good to know…I’m talking about <em>earlier than that</em>. I was worried I’d have to take you back to the infirmary”.</p><p>            “It’s been rough,” she said honestly. She felt herself smile a little. “Though…thanks for understanding. I wasn’t expecting you to be so…<em>nice</em> about it”.</p><p>            “After what you’ve been through I would have been nice about it even without…er, <em>before</em>…”</p><p>            “Before?”</p><p>            “Before…”</p><p>            “Us?” She mused. He nodded.</p><p>            “Yes. Us”.</p><p>            “Speaking of us… I couldn’t lock your door. I don’t have a key. A Scribe dropped by and left a sandwich for you for lunch. Bit of a shock for her to find <em>me</em> there in your place, though”.</p><p>            “I’ll have a spare key made,” he said shyly. “Though I question if it will be appropriate to let you use my quarters <em>regularly</em> until after the war. Perhaps then we can make things more…official. If you want”.</p><p>            “Er…speaking of appropriate…the scribe walked in on me getting dressed, thought I was an intruder…I suppose by the end of the night half the ship will know about <em>us</em>”.</p><p>            “Only half?” He joked. “…you greatly underestimate the gossip problem on this ship. I just hope it doesn’t get <em>too</em> out of hand this time”.</p><p>            “I’ll let you deal with that,” she joked back. “I need to head back to the Castle. I’ve got work to do”.</p><p>            “Wait here at the Command Deck. I’ll call Danse and have him head back with you”.</p><p>#</p><p>            “I hope the <em>big</em> tin can won’t be here for a bit,” Ronnie Shaw mused once Nora had returned to the Castle and briefed Ronnie and Preston on the situation. “Word is that a certain Lieutenant is returning to the Castle, General. With some of our <em>mutual</em> friends”.</p><p>            Danse was outside putting recruits through their paces. Nora, Ronnie, and Preston had taken the opportunity to have this discussion in the armory with the doors closed.</p><p>            “So we’re officially working on that …<em>special project</em>”. Preston nodded. “I doubt it’ll attract too much attention. Deacon and company can be very discreet. What happens if someone pokes around, though?”</p><p>            “We’ve taken precautions with the classified sections of the tunnels,” Ronnie added. “Deacon will have a friend or two stop by and make <em>further</em> adjustments, but unless someone’s actively looking, we should be alright”.</p><p>            “But what do we say if, well…let’s say Maxson or Danse get suspicious”.</p><p>            “I’ll handle that,” Nora smiled. “There are plenty of threats in the Commonwealth, and we can’t very well send in Minutemen patrols or Brotherhood squadrons at every single one. Some threats…tightly-sealed lips, Goodneighbor mobs, situations where we require more intelligence before we go forward. I’m sure the Brotherhood can be convinced to leave the lighter-touch projects to the Minutemen”.</p><p>            “It’s not like it’s <em>their</em> forte,” Ronnie chuckled. “Now, unto the next matter of business. We’ve finished setting up our first set of artillery. The plan is to get the artillery units set up at most, if not all, of our settlements, so we can expand our coverage. Before we can do <em>that</em> though, we need to test the darn things. Think you can scope out a location I’ve picked? I’ll set up some men further ahead; tell them to block off that road until the show’s over”.</p><p>            “Sounds like a plan. Where are we testing?”</p><p>            “That ruined café just outside where Preston tells me you folk made camp when you were taking back the Castle. Some men’ll stand further up by the road and ensure no one wanders in. You just head over there and make sure the place is empty. I’ll give you a smoke grenade to drop on the location when you’re sure it’s clear. Just make sure you head back up to the Castle or at least stand back. <em>Way </em>back”.</p><p>            “Alright,” Nora nodded. “Let’s get that matter out of the way before I spend the night on paperwork”.</p><p>            “Here’s the grenade. I’ll have the radio operator stop standard broadcasts so we can use the radio channel for our tests”.</p><p>            “I’ll go with you,” Preston nodded.</p><p>            “Danse’ll probably tag along if he sees us wandering outside,” Nora advised him.</p><p>            “Maxson sure is <em>protective</em> of you, isn’t he?” Preston mumbled, his voice tinged with a bit of residual jealousy.</p><p>            “I…” Nora blushed, “can’t say I don’t enjoy it at least a <em>little</em>”.</p><p>            “At least he’s good to you,” Preston nodded. “I won’t lie, General. I wish it had gone a little differently. I guess I can learn to let bygones be bygones, though. I just hope he and his ‘brothers’ learn to appreciate what a good thing they have”.</p><p>            “I don’t think I can handle anymore ‘I love you’s’ today, Preston”.</p><p>            “Get used to it missy!” Ronnie laughed as Preston and Nora walked outside. “Half the Commonwealth loves you!” At the courtyard, Nora and Preston gathered up a few men, attracting Danse’s attention.</p><p>            “What’s going on?”</p><p>            “We’re running a test outside the walls. I’m just getting a few men to stop traffic to the area, and we’re making sure no one’s camping out in the café we need to check out”. She took a quick look back at Preston. “Oh…I need to tell the Prydwen that if they see explosions <em>not</em> to panic. Guess it’s time to get on the radio…”</p><p>            “Explosions?”</p><p>            “We’re testing the artillery”.</p><p>            “Oh. You’ll be firing from <em>here</em>, right?”<br/>            “I wasn’t planning on standing in the café, Danse”.</p><p>            “Very well. Do what you need to do. I can radio the Prydwen”. He watched Nora and the others head down the hill to inspect the café before walking over to the radio operator, who was taking instructions from Ronnie Shaw about the radio test.</p><p>            “Tin man!” Shaw smiled.</p><p>            “Sergeant, this is important. I need to requisition the radio for a second to tell Command about your artillery test. Wouldn’t want them thinking you’re under attack…”</p><p>            “I figured”. She looked down at the radio operator. “Make it so”. It took only a moment before the radio operator managed to radio an open line meant for communications between the Brotherhood and the Minutemen.</p><p>            “Prydwen, this is Castle, over”.</p><p>            “Castle, Prydwen responding. What’s the situation, over?”</p><p>            “I’ll put your man on the air,” the radio operator said, before handing the intercom over to Danse.</p><p>            “Command, this is Star-Paladin Danse, registration Delta, Nomad, Four, Zero, Seven, Patrol. The Minutemen are conducting a test of their defensive systems. A test fire will commence on the buildings outside the Castle’s western entrance shortly. This is just a test. Repeat, this is just a test, over”.</p><p>            “Star-Paladin, authorization accepted. We’ll communicate that to the bridge. Is that all, over?”</p><p>            “That’s all, over and out”. Danse returned the intercom to the radio operator, proceeding to the entrance of the Castle to watch the show. He could see a plume of brightly-colored smoke rising through the air. Preston and Nora were hurrying back up to the Castle, and Ronnie Shaw was broadcasting on the radio”.</p><p>            “General! Got your smoke on the target! All clear?”</p><p>            “Almost out of the way…” They reached the base of the hill that the Castle stood on before Nora’s voice could be heard on the radio saying “all clear!” Danse could hear the sounds of machinery cranking as the artillery-men calibrated their sights before…</p><p>            <strong><em>THOOM</em></strong>. The first round of artillery fire whizzed overhead, striking the café with impressive aim. A successive volley of shots rang out, each one hitting the café with precise aim. Danse couldn’t help but find himself impressed again as Nora and Preston celebrated their success, visibly high-fiving each other. The Minutemen at the Castle were all cheering. A baby mole rat, dressed in a green bandana, found its way out of a small doghouse set up by the entrance and snuggled up to Danse’s power armor leg.</p><p>            “You can handle some artillery fire, Lamar. You’re a Minuteman. Let’s go tell the Prydwen the test was a resounding success…if they somehow don’t already know”.</p><p>#</p><p>            The night of the artillery test was the first time Nora had alcohol since before the bombs had fallen. The taste of whiskey on her lips was intoxicating, even with the whiskey being at room temperature. Two-hundred years of being sealed in a bottle had only served to make the drink more potent, somehow. She’d spent the morning nursing the foreign sensation of a hangover as new arrivals made it to the Castle.</p><p>            “Deacon! You’ve brought company!”</p><p>            “Boss,” Deacon said with concern. “A word”.</p><p>            “Something the matter?”</p><p>            “With you? Hell no, we’re doing great…but you know how it’s my job to keep my ear low to the ground, right? <em>I’ve picked up some rumbles</em>”.</p><p>            “Oh no”.</p><p>            “I hope you can clear your schedule and talk with us downstairs. There’s a <em>lot</em> going on”.</p><p>            “I’ll stop by. Head down and make yourself at home. I don’t recognize some of your friends…”</p><p>            “You’ve met Tom, Carrington and Glory. These three are…visiting. Tom’s here too, trying to get our crate off the wagon”.</p><p>            “Did you bring <em>packages</em>?” Nora asked.</p><p>            “Yes. Yes I did”.</p><p>            “The giant crate stands out,” Nora said defensively, in case anyone was watching. “Tom had to bring some toys?”</p><p>            “Yeah, you know Tom…he and Carrington’ll help out later around the house. Glory can fall in with the Minutemen, and the others are just looking for caravans”.</p><p>            “How big are these rumbles if you decided …uh…<em>not</em> to travel alone?”</p><p>            “…Boss, I’m here to warn you of the earthquake,” Deacon muttered. “See me as soon as you can”. Once she’d managed to excuse herself from any morning meetings at the Castle, Nora managed to slip downstairs to the Castle’s tunnels and into Deacon’s main hiding place. Tinker Tom and the synths were carrying a large crate of something into the tunnels, with Ronnie Shaw trailing along to make sure the group weren’t followed. Once it was clear that the group were alone, Ronnie left, leaving the Railroad alone in the Castle tunnels.</p><p>            “Everyone’s here but Dez and Drummer Boy,”  Nora observed.</p><p>            “They’re staying behind at the Old North Church, trying to clear out the HQ of anything <em>too</em> sensitive”.</p><p>            “Get to the point, Deacon, we’re running on borrowed time”. Carrington shook his head disdainfully as he sat down in one of the chairs. “Tom, how long do you think it’ll take to get this place fully fortified?”</p><p>            “It’s already pretty well-done, Doc”. Tinker Tom nodded. “I can get this place a bit more on the up-and-up in time. Guess we’re going to be laying low here for a while”.</p><p>            “Bunker Hill’s been compromised, according to PAM,” Deacon warned Nora. “She’s in the crate, in sleep mode. The Institute are planning an attack there. It’s only a matter of time before they hit the place”.</p><p>            “The data on the holotape you provided for us helped PAM come to that conclusion. We brought it back so that we could keep it out of the affected area.. Between the Institute and the Brotherhood in the area, we’ve had to start decommissioning the Church,” Carrington sighed. “I suppose we now have no choice but to call upon the Minutemen if the Railroad are to continue their work”.</p><p>            “I don’t wanna hear the ‘R’ word while we’re here. My agreement with the Brotherhood only encompasses the Minutemen, and I doubt Elder Maxson’ll extend his agreement to the Railroad no matter how hard I try. He’s supposed to eventually show up to work on some trade agreements with us, and I don’t need any problems with that. As far as I’m concerned, when you’re here, you’re Minutemen. It’s the safest way to protect you all right now, understood?”</p><p>            “As much as I hate it, <em>yes</em>”, Glory nodded.</p><p>            “That’s the plan,” Deacon nodded. “Hopefully when Dez is done clearing out the Church, she makes it down here. We don’t know how long we have”.</p><p>            “We…appreciate you risking your necks for us,” Carrington muttered.</p><p>            “And Deacon told us about your little <em>arrangement</em> with the Brotherhood,” Glory added. “Gotta say, didn’t see that one coming”.</p><p>            “Yeah, neither did I. The things I do to protect the Commonwealth…”</p><p>            “Such <em>strange</em> bedfellows you’ve made, General,” Carrington said.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0040"><h2>40. Si Vis Pacem</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 40: In which Nora makes a fateful choice.</p><p>[TRIGGER WARNING: Suicidal depression].</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This song popped up as soon as I finished writing this chapter. Eerie.</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve2Fj1KgJL8&amp;list=RDMMEKBwY7lbFs4&amp;index=2</p><p>Side note: we're getting down to the end of the story...wow. This has been a ride.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>SI VIS PACEM</h1><p>
  <em>“War (huh), good god/what is it good for/absolutely nothing listen to me” – Edwin Star “War (What Is It Good For)”</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>            The 28<sup>th</sup> and the 29<sup>th</sup> were spent waiting on a caravan from Covenant to make their way down to the Castle with some very special shipments. A few more synths from the Old North Church had been quietly moved to select, hand-picked settlements. Hiding the synths in plain sight among the Minutemen took the Brotherhood’s attention off of them, while also spreading them out further to help elude the Institute. Some of the synths joined the Railroad detachment at the Castle. A caravan posing as a salvage crew, staffed with a few tourists Ronnie and Deacon had gathered together, also managed to secure credentials from the Cambridge Polymer Labs for Liam Binet to crack the Code Defender software that safeguarded the sturdier firewalls in the Institute. In the meantime, Doctor Carrington worked alongside Doctor Beltier, treating the sick and wounded that passed through the Castle walls. The synths hiding in the tunnels rarely came out, with their alibi being that they were a work crew for tunnel renovations. Glory fell in with the troops at the Minutemen, pretending to be a jaded mercenary looking for a fresh start.</p><p>            A humorous occurrence came about on the morning of the 29<sup>th</sup>, when Nora found Glory watching unarmed combat drills for the new recruits. Danse was his usual self, barking orders and intimidating the recruits into performing better. “This isn’t the Brotherhood of Steel, but you still need to learn how to handle your own in a fight if you want to be <em>good</em> Minutemen. Show me your best right hooks!”</p><p>            Suddenly, his eyes fell on Glory.</p><p>            “You’re new too”.</p><p>            “I am,” she nodded.</p><p>            “What’s your name, civilian?”</p><p>            “Glory”.</p><p>            “You’re the mercenary Deacon brought in, right? <em>Typical</em>. What’s the matter? Think you’re too good for basic training?”</p><p>            “I’ve been around the block a few times. I’d say I’m past the basics”.</p><p>            “Is that so, Glory?”</p><p>            “I’ve been told I have a <em>mean</em> right hook,” Glory chuckled. She was <em>itching</em> for a chance to put the high and mighty Brotherhood in its place. Unafraid, tapping on Danse’s power armor, she winked at him and asked “<em>wanna see</em>?” Danse could feel the recruits behind him stopping and looking at him with interest.</p><p>            “You’re either incredibly bold or incredibly stupid to be asking me that while I’m in power armor, Glory”.</p><p>            “What’s your name again? <em>Dense</em>? You didn’t answer my question”. It surprised everyone to see Danse walk away from that challenge for a moment, only to return without his power armor.</p><p>            “Oh? Taking it easy on me?” She assumed a sparing stance with a mischievous grin. “I’m <em>almost</em> flattered”.</p><p>            “One right hook,” Danse said, feeling cocky. He pointed to his left cheek. “Then I’ll show you where you went wrong”. He wasn’t expecting much from an undisciplined scavver turned mercenary, thinking back to his own days as another lowlife from Rivet City before the Brotherhood had taken him in and polished out his rough edges.</p><p>            <em>SMACK</em>.</p><p>            To everyone’s surprise except Glory’s compatriots, Danse quickly found that Glory could swing a right hook like a swing from a Behemoth. It had taken <em>work</em> to still remain standing after that punch, but Danse had managed to keep himself standing, surprising Glory.</p><p>            “Well, maybe that armor <em>isn’t</em> compensating for anything”.</p><p>            “My turn,” Danse grunted before swinging back at Glory, who found herself surprised by Danse’s quickness. Just as it had taken Danse work to keep standing after Glory had hit him, so too did it take Glory work to keep Danse from hitting her. One misstep as she stepped back suddenly saw Danse land a solid punch to her stomach. Fighting through the pain, Glory tackled him to the ground. While the two rolled around in the dirt, struggling to prove superiority over one another, the recruits gathered around, cheering for one party or the other to win. It took Nora walking out of the tunnels and yelling at both parties to stop to finally put an end to the spectacle. Punishments could be doled out later by Preston. After the sun began to set, she gathered Preston, Deacon, and Danse in the officer’s quarters.</p><p>            “I need to make a personal visit,” Nora told them. “I haven’t seen my son in days”.</p><p>            “You sure that’s such a good idea, General?” Preston asked. Danse, still nursing a busted lip, nodded in agreement. Deacon said nothing, knowing that part of the intent behind her visit was to get the Code Defender credentials in Patriot’s hands.</p><p>            “I’ll try not to be gone for too long,” Nora insisted. “I just…I wanna <em>talk</em> to him”.</p><p>            “…be back by the early morning, huh?” Deacon asked.</p><p>            “You’re not going to stop her?” Danse scowled.</p><p>            “What, you think any of us <em>can</em>?” Deacon scoffed back.</p><p>            “I just…” Nora sighed. “I was just <em>thinking</em>, Danse. Maybe I can get through to him”. Danse looked at her with worry and then sighed.</p><p>            “Ugh,” Danse groaned, before giving up. “Yeah…I guess if it were me, I’d want to do the same. Come back <em>alive</em>, soldier”.</p><p>            “By tomorrow morning, I promise”. Reaching for her Pip-Boy, she signaled the Institute and requested a relay signal. A moment later, a blinding flash of light took her away.</p><p>#</p><p>            A synth was at the elevator to welcome her when she made it to the main atrium.</p><p>            “Mother! Father was waiting for you. I was told to ask you to head to the infirmary”.</p><p>            “The infirmary? Is everything alright?”</p><p>            “There was no explanation. I can escort you, if you’d like”.</p><p>            “No need,” Nora eyed Liam Binet sitting at a park bench. “Tell him I’ll be up shortly”. She’d spent enough time in the Institute’s infirmary and her own quarters to remember those two locations better than anything else about the Institute besides her son. After quickly walking up to Liam Binet and saying hello, Nora ‘forgot’ a piece of paper with the requested credentials on the bench seat next to him. Hurrying into the infirmary, she could hear a faint conversation from the door.</p><p>            “Any additional pain or tenderness?”</p><p>            “No, Doctor”. Shaun seemed as calm and collected as ever as Doctor Volkert interrogated him.</p><p>            “Have you been sticking to the regimen?”</p><p>            “I’ve been taking all my little pills”.</p><p>            “Shaun?” Nora asked, disturbing the conversation. The Institute’s Directory quickly opened the curtain and smiled at her.</p><p>            “Ah, Mother. I was wondering when I’d see you again. I believe we’re finished now, Doctor”.</p><p>            “But I haven’t finished—”</p><p>            “Another time, Doctor”. As Doctor Volkert backed down, Shaun led Nora up the stairs to his quarters, making small talk about her time at the Castle and the Prydwen.</p><p>            “Your Castle seems to be growing at an exponential rate. You appear to have a knack for leadership”.</p><p>            “Well…like son, like mother, I guess”. She hesitated for a moment before adding “…I shouldn’t say that. You’ve clearly done a lot of work to have the Institute run as smoothly as it has”.</p><p>            “I have. However, I’ve had sixty years to grow into the position. Between that and the disorder you found in the Commonwealth when you began your role as the Minuteman General, I’d say you’ve done your fair share of work. I wanted to talk to you about the other factions of the Commonwealth, mother. Let’s start with your own. You’ve managed to consolidate some level of law and order within the Commonwealth in such a short amount of time”.</p><p>            “It’s not like it wasn’t there before, Shaun. They tried to form a government once”.</p><p>            She swallowed hard as she moved to confront him. “They say they weren’t able to do so because of the Institute”.</p><p>            “They like to blame <em>everything</em> on us, don’t they? Their own poverty, squalor, and their inability to pursue a work greater than themselves. I can’t answer to the Institute’s involvement with the fall of the infantile Commonwealth Provisional Government, mother. Access to Institute records only provides me with so much information”.</p><p>            “Shaun, regardless of <em>why</em> they fell, why didn’t the Institute help them? You have so much down here and there’s so little everywhere else in the Commonwealth. Even if you just gave them a hand, imagine the good it would do? Look how much they’ve done already with just me!”</p><p>            “Are you suggesting I just <em>give freely </em>what the Institute has worked so hard for decades --- over a century, even --- to the Commonwealth in the name of peace?”</p><p>            “<em>Yes</em>”.</p><p>            “And what do you suppose that would <em>do</em>, mother?”<br/>
            Nora stared at him blankly. “Shaun…it would make them less <em>afraid</em> of you, for starters!”</p><p>            “Less afraid, yes. And are you sure <em>that’s</em> what you believe is best for the Institute?”</p><p>            “Is it really so good for the Institute to just…<em>hide</em> down here with everyone else? And if you <em>did</em> choose to hide down here, Shaun, why not <em>truly</em> hide? If you won’t help the Commonwealth, why not at least stop terrorizing it?”</p><p>            “We only head up there to retrieve things of use to us,” Shaun said callously. “Escaped synths, for starters, which happen to be one of the things the Commonwealth fear most”.</p><p>            “Were escaped synths the ones who raided University Point, Shaun?” Nora glared at him. “I know about that attack. We found what you were looking for; a laser pistol locked in the bank vault that the settlers didn’t know about. You sent <em>Kellogg</em> there to intimidate them”.</p><p>            “And then he unfortunately used his synth forces to wipe out the settlers when they resisted”.</p><p>            “You make it sound like it was their fault, Shaun! Like they weren’t <em>afraid</em> enough of him”.</p><p>            “While Kellogg’s methods were regrettable,” Shaun said darkly, scaring Nora, “do you think that settlement would have met with such trouble if they <em>had</em> been afraid enough?” She could only stare at her son in disbelief, eyes brimming with tears, jaw agape, as Shaun shook his head.</p><p>            “You’re too <em>soft</em>, mother. It’ll be the death of you. I admire that insofar as some qualities about you, but when it comes to being a leader in this cruel world, you’re going to have to learn to be a bit more ruthless. If you want peace, you must prepare for war. Speaking of war, we need to address the Brotherhood of Steel. People have been talking about your involvement with them. Now I understand that you had to fall in with them to find me, and continue co-operating with this much more heavily militarized force to protect your own Minutemen. Until now, you’ve had to make the choices you’ve made for your own reasons, so I can’t find fault with you. I must warn you though, mother, with the Institute at your back, you’ll soon find you’re losing your ability to have your actions dismissed as part of your lack of agency”.</p><p>            “Shaun?”</p><p>            “Don’t be naïve, mother. I know you’re a peacekeeper at heart, but the Brotherhood covet technology and power. Who has more technology and power in the Commonwealth than the Institute? You can’t continue to deny that they <em>will</em> come for us. You will inevitably be forced to choose between us and them, and when that time comes you will face unfortunate consequences, whichever side you choose”.</p><p>            “It doesn’t <em>have</em> to be us or them, Shaun…”</p><p>            “Mother…your Courser chip, and the watchers we deploy around the Commonwealth. You’re a <em>secretive</em> woman; you’ve been forced to be. However, we’re not as easy to hide things from as the Brotherhood. We know you have a close alliance with the Brotherhood. It’s difficult to learn anything from their higher-ranked officers, but the rank-and-file soldier can easily be prone to weakness. Sometimes when they’re on patrol, they gossip. You and the leader of the Brotherhood are apparently very close. It would even seem you were both <em>intimate</em> recently. I can’t deny curiosity, mother. Why <em>him</em>?”</p><p>            “Th-that’s…none of your business, Shaun”.</p><p>            “Oh, but it may very well be. Your business is my business; you and I are family. A good son looks out for his mother”.</p><p>            Shaun sat down at his desk, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. “I know these things are <em>terrible</em> for my health, mother, but I’m already an old man. I sat and thought about Justin Ayo’s report when he mentioned what he heard from the watchers about you and your dalliance with the Brotherhood Elder, but I realized I couldn’t really pass blame upon you in that regard either. Logic itself states that after <em>everything</em> you’ve been through, you would need a coping mechanism. Physical and emotional intimacy are coping mechanisms: maybe not my particular mechanisms of choice, but we’re mother and son, not clones. There will be differences”.</p><p>            He stopped himself, looking at Nora knowingly. “You still think this isn’t any of my business, mother? Normally, I suppose you’d be right, but I need an assurance that you won’t let the Brotherhood break into the Institute and burn down all we hold dear. I do believe you might be capable of using the Minutemen to leverage some level of co-operation with the surface on our part, but the Brotherhood are too resolute in their beliefs. I doubt even you could change their minds. Confrontation will soon be inevitable with the Brotherhood; I would be remiss not to warn you that any serious attachments you may have with the Brotherhood --- with this man --- could prove dangerous”.</p><p>            “…you’re going to kill him”.</p><p>            “I’m prepared to negate the Brotherhood’s presence in the entire Commonwealth, if it comes to that. When the day comes that you must choose the Institute, I need you to be <em>prepared</em> for that same possibility. Others in the Institute would not have been so lenient with you, but I’m willing to overlook the past so long as your partnership with us remains your first priority, just as it is my duty to safeguard the Institute above all else”.</p><p>            His eyes lowered down to her stomach. “There’s a slim possibility that you may be pregnant again, since I doubt contraceptives are commonplace in the Commonwealth. I If it should come to pass I may one day have a half-sibling, I will assure you of your second child’s protection within the Institute. As your first-born son, I want to minimize the consequences of your loyalty as much as I have power to do so. I can do nothing for the consequences of disloyalty; you can keep both children if you choose the Institute through the course of their natural lives. If the Brotherhood win, can you say the same?”</p><p>            “Y-you really know how to inspire <em>fear</em>, Shaun”. Nora felt a few tears roll down her cheeks as she imagined what he said playing out. She’d been afraid of Maxson, and Shaun had been right to acknowledge those fears --- but now she found herself fearing her son as well. The Brotherhood had their faults, but what Shaun was describing was cold-blooded murder. Worst of all, for the sake of two children, she found herself sickened by the fact that she was actually considering his idea, abandoning all hope of peace in the Commonwealth. She pictured herself, for one sickening moment, eliminating the Prydwen and the man she’d almost fallen for in a fiery explosion, all for the sake of the son who was now an old man and a second child whose existence could not yet even be confirmed.</p><p>            If Shaun was a monster, perhaps some of it had come from her. Yes, she was almost sure of it now.</p><p>            “I’m confident you understand the choices that lay ahead of you, mother. I wish I could offer you more time to deliberate, but I’d like to inform you of a development on the surface. We’ve become aware that several escaped synths are hiding in various settlements across the Commonwealth. Some of your own settlements may even be involved, though we’ll discuss that situation after we handle our first operation. Bunker Hill is not affiliated with the Minutemen, yes? We’d like you to assist with a major retrieval operation there. I believe your contact with the Railroad has been minimal, but you’re aware that incidents like Libertalia are the ultimate results of their misguided attempts to free the synths. You’ll be relayed to Bunker Hill as soon as this conversation is over to meet with a Courser positioned just outside of the settlement. Increased Brotherhood and Railroad presence in the area has necessitated a prompt response from us. I hope you take this as an opportunity to prove to the others in the Institute exactly where your loyalties lie and what you’re truly capable of. It would be best, of course, if we keep this as small as possible, but if a show of force becomes necessary, so be it. Now, I need to get back to Doctor Volkert. I trust you’ll find your own way to the relay”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Bunker Hill was a ways away from the Castle, though Nora’s promise to return to the Castle was the furthest thing on her mind as the relay rematerialized her near a waiting Institute Courser.</p><p>            “Unit X4-18. I’ve been waiting for you”.</p><p>            “I…I’m sorry to have held you up,” Nora said meekly.</p><p>            “Try and keep up from here on out. I assume you’ve been briefed. Our targets are inside: four synths under Railroad protection. Intelligence indicates that there’s a cellar entrance somewhere in the marketplace. The majority of the settlement is uninvolved and expected to run for cover. We move in, secure the synths, and I relay back out to the Institute. Is that clear?”</p><p>            “Hopefully we can keep this small…” Nora said, echoing Shaun’s own words from a few minutes ago more than anything else. The Courser handed her a paper with the relevant recall codes written on it. In her mind, she pictured a similar event to Bunker Hill happening at the Castle. Three frightened synth faces from the group Deacon had brought in stared back at her.</p><p>            Shaun really knew how to inspire fear. The Courser could be seen looking out ahead at Bunker Hill, only to suddenly grimace and look back at Nora.</p><p>            “I see several Railroad ‘heavies’ at this location. There, in the armored brown coats. They knew we were coming. I don’t know if you can hear this, ma’am, but that distant hum if you stay quiet? That’s the sound of Vertibirds closing in. A covert approach is likely no longer impossible, so we go in shooting”.</p><p>            “Shooting?” Nora panicked. X4-18 ignored her, paging the Institute. “The situation has escalated. Mission parameters have changed. X4-18, requesting backup relay now”. Before Nora could understand what was happening, blinding blue flashes of light revealed several plastic synth units, fully armed, standing at the front gates. A waiting Railroad heavy panicked and began firing upon the Gen-2 forces. As all hell broke loose, X4-18 yelled at Nora to follow before running for the main gate of the settlement. Nora could barely keep up with the Courser’s inhuman speed; he circled around the settlement walls, looking for an unguarded entrance. Suddenly, he looked up and began firing into the air, hitting an approaching Brotherhood Vertibird with astounding accuracy. The shot broke the Vertibird’s windshield, striking the Lancer at the helm in the face and causing the Vertibird to begin spiraling out of control. As the armed Knights inside jumped out to avoid the crash, X4-18 began to engage them. Nora took the opportunity to break down the side door, barely dodging an attacking Railroad heavy as synths suddenly began to pour through the front gate. The roar of Brotherhood machinery punctuated the exchange of bullets and laser fire. Terrified civilians and patrolling Minutemen were either running for cover or attacking the Institute forces. In the midst of the battleground, Nora found herself to be terrifyingly alone.</p><p>            <em>You’re losing your ability to have your actions blamed on your lack of agency. </em>Shaun’s words, rather than Nate’s, were echoing in her head now. Whether it was adrenaline or fear taking over, she found her body to no longer be her own. The marketplace was just a short sprint away; the trader stalls were empty, save Old Man Stockton cowering in a corner.</p><p>            “Hey!” Nora screamed, running closer. He could barely hear her as the ground rumbled and Brotherhood Knights began dropping unto the scene.</p><p>            “<em>Hey!</em>”</p><p>            “You!” He was shocked to see her, pulling her into a corner to avoid the gunfire.</p><p>            “What the hell are <em>you</em> doing here?”</p><p>            “Stockton, where are the packages?”</p><p>            “Wha—” a grenade exploding in the distance cut him off.</p><p>            “I <em>know</em> they’re underground! Where?!”</p><p>            “I can’t…I won’t tell you that!”</p><p>            “Stockton, we don’t have time for this! There’s a fucking firefight outside!”</p><p>            “…the front stall!” Either fear or trust overtook him, and Nora wasn’t sure which. Worse, she was still unsure of what she should do. She couldn’t retrieve and <em>free</em> synths at the same time, and if the Brotherhood reached the synths first, there wouldn’t be much of a decision to be made for that much longer. Leaving Stockton behind and dodging fire from all directions to hurry to the front stall, she slid under the guardrail blocking access to the cellar door and hurriedly picked the lock with a bobby pin. Frantic memories overtook her: B5-92’s dumbstruck face as the recall code reset his brain. K1-98’s splattered brains after being found out by Knight Rhys. The fear and paranoia of the synths hiding in the Castle, worried about what would happen if their true identities were found out. M7-97, waiting for her at the Castle, with no knowledge that someday the Institute would likely come for him too.</p><p>            She scrambled down the ladder leading to the cellar, rushing past Railroad heavies.</p><p>            “Hold your fire! <em>Negotiator</em>?!” One of them yelled.</p><p>            “We don’t have time for this! Bunker Hill’s a battleground!”</p><p>            “Bunker Hill is <em>ours</em>!” The Railroad heavies yelled, assuming defensive positions toward the cellar door as Institute synths and Brotherhood soldiers began pouring through the entrance. Nora ran ahead of them all, making her way to the end of the safehouse where four terrified synths cowered in the final room, pleading with her to spare them. In her heart, she truly wanted to. Her mind rushed to the disapproving faces of Arthur Maxson and Shaun Mul—  Shaun <em>Grayson</em>.</p><p>            Their freedom, or her life? The choice weighed heavily on her soul. Perhaps Arthur could be convinced that she was never here; that she was just defending more Minutemen caught in the crossfire. <em>Shaun</em> would never forgive her. The next decision she made had the potential to solidify her search for her long-lost baby, or truly tear him away forever. Her last living family member, her <em>only</em> boy.</p><p>            No. She couldn’t dare lose him. With tears streaming down her face, she opened the sheet with the recall codes on it and moved to recite the first recall code.</p><p>            The words wouldn’t come.</p><p>            “Please…” one of the synths begged. “We just want to be free”.</p><p>            <em>So do I</em>.</p><p>            “We just want to be left alone!”</p><p>            <em>So do I!</em></p><p>“We just want to live normal lives! That’s all!”</p><p>            <em>SO DO I!</em></p><p>            Finally, her decision rushed forward, manifesting itself into spoken words and shocking everyone.</p><p>            “…you’re free to go”. She felt her grip weaken on the recall codes as the synths all responded in joyful shock. The sounds of gunfire outside all seemed so distant compared to the thundering echo of her own heartbeat in her head.</p><p>            “Y-you mean it?”</p><p>            “You need to keep hiding here,” she said instinctively. “It’s dangerous to go outside just yet. Cut the lights. <em>Hide</em>. Don’t come out until I tell you to come out or until everything goes quiet and <em>stays</em> quiet”.</p><p>“The Railroad told us to use this!” One of the synths said, gesturing to a false panel made to look like a renovated wall. Suddenly, she could hear the high-pitched sound of a laser rifle warming up. X4-18 had his gun aimed squarely on the back of her head.</p><p>            “I cannot allow you to free those units. You will be terminated, and your actions reported to the SRB”.</p><p>            Raising her hands slowly above her head, she accepted the possibility that this was the end of the line. The only thing she could do now was make her death worth the peace destroyed at Bunker Hill.</p><p>            “You should tell Father why I did it”.</p><p>            “Enlighten me,” X4-18 said quickly. “I’m sure that information will be useful”.</p><p>            “He said it himself. One day I’d have to choose a side. My choices would have consequences. He thought he meant just for me, but he meant the whole Commonwealth…<em>and I know which Commonwealth I’d rather live in</em>”.</p><p>            “I hope you’re prepared to die in it,” X4-18 reminded her. She remembered the synths behind her, prepared to live in that same Commonwealth but unable to do so without her action. Bolting forward as the Courser pulled the trigger, she ignored the pain in her upper chest as the laser pistol’s shot struck her squarely in the chest. He hadn’t expected her to run right into him, and certainly not with enough force to knock him down the corridor just as the Brotherhood were making their way up to the end of the line.</p><p>            “Courser!” A Paladin yelled. “Exterminate it!” A hail of gatling fire struck X4-18, with Nora hiding under the body to avoid the brunt of the shots. A few of the lasers grazed and burned her arms and legs; the pain from the direct hit that the Courser had shot off into her chest was setting in now.</p><p>            “Cease fire! Cease fire! That’s Knight-Sergeant Mulyer!”</p><p>            “Knight? What the hell are <em>you</em> doing here?”</p><p>            “The Institute made me come here,” Nora explained. “It’s a <em>long</em> story”.</p><p>            “How do we know you’re <em>actually</em> her? Elder Maxson said you’d be at the Castle”.</p><p>            “Why would a synth infiltrator be getting shot at by a Courser?” She gestured to her injured chest. With the adrenaline wearing off, she found herself having difficulty raising her right arm.</p><p>            “You were crazy enough to <em>engage</em> that Courser?”</p><p>            “I had to stop it from completing its mission, Paladin. Besides,” she pointed to her face with her left arm. “It wouldn’t be my first time”.</p><p>            “Well in that case, think you could help us find the synths?”</p><p>            “They aren’t down this corridor, I just checked”.</p><p>            “…<em>are you sure</em>?”</p><p>            “You think I want them getting mixed in with my caravans?”</p><p>            “Fair enough, still, we’re going to check that doorway just in case. Won’t be an issue, will there?”</p><p>            “It’s empty. I’m telling you…<em>but fine</em>”. The situation called for a poker face. “Forgive my slowness. My chest hurts”.</p><p>            “Lead the way, Knight-Sergeant”. Praying that the synths wouldn’t be too stupid too jump out, and praying they’d been quick enough to cover their tracks. Sure enough, the room appeared to be empty. Only Nora knew about the prepared hiding space that the Railroad had disguised in the room. To be extra careful, she opened up a few of the lockers and chests in the room.</p><p>            “Told you. Already checked”.</p><p>            “Sorry I doubted you, Knight-Sergeant. So wait, you said the Institute <em>made</em> you come here?”</p><p>            “I was at the Castle just a little while ago, and then all of a sudd—” her attempt at establishing an alibi was interrupted by the sound of her Pip-Boy beeping.</p><p>            “Huh?” There was a message on her Pip-Boy. <em>Remote relay sequence activated. </em>The Brotherhood could see the panic on her face as she suddenly realized what was happening. The Paladin at the helm of the group realized what was happening too, running forward and attempting to grab her arm, but not being quick enough. The room in front of her disappeared from view before she found herself in the Institute’s relay room before. To her surprise, a second blast quickly fired up, pulling her out of the relay room and to an unknown location. She quickly recognized it as being somewhere in Cambridge.</p><p>            <em>The roof of the C.I.T</em>? Her heart skipped a beat when saw Shaun standing in the darkness, looking out over the ruins of Boston from his perch just a few feet away from her. The few steps between the two of them that it took to close the distance had been the heaviest of Nora’s entire life. He made no move to acknowledge her, staring out at half-demolished skyscrapers.</p><p>            “You know, in all my years, I’ve never set foot outside the Institute. Not once, since the day they brought me here. I’ve never had a reason. But now…this just confirms the truth I’ve always known”.</p><p>            He finally turned to her, expression blank. Cold. Distant.</p><p>            “The Commonwealth is <em>dead</em>. There’s no future here. The only hope for humanity lies below”.</p><p>            “It wasn’t always like this,” Nora gulped, voice shaking. If there were any more tears left within her body, they’d surely have been falling from her eyes. Somewhere in her heart, she knew there was no going back.</p><p>            <em>When the day comes that you must choose…</em></p><p>            “It used to be different, Shaun”.</p><p>            “I can only imagine the world you left behind, mother. Standing here, I’m reminded of how fortunate I am that I was spared a life in this wasteland. I know that to you, I was kidnapped from the Vault. In truth, the Institute rescued me. I’ll admit, when I had you released from Vault 111, I had no expectations that you’d survive in all of this alone. To manage to not only do so, but find the Institute --- find <em>me</em>. Extraordinary. I had no idea what kind of woman you were, you see. Would the Commonwealth corrupt you, as it had everything else? Perhaps most curious to me…would you, after all this time, attempt to find me? Here we are, now that I know the answer. It <em>did</em> corrupt you”.</p><p>            For the first time, he showed her <em>true</em> emotion. Anger flashed across her son’s face as he continued. “Bunker Hill did not go as expected for us. Would you care to explain what happened?”</p><p>            “It was me, Shaun,” Nora said simply. “I let the synths go free”.</p><p>            “<em>Why</em>? Why would you do something so…so stupid?”</p><p>            “They were <em>afraid</em>, Shaun. They didn’t want to go back there. I told you! The whole Commonwealth’s afraid of you! <em>I’m </em>afraid of you! What was I supposed to do, drag them back the Institute to be repurposed and forced back into servitude?”</p><p>            “<em>Yes!</em> And <em>afraid?!</em> They’re machines! Artificial! They’re incapable of being afraid! This was such a <em>simple</em> task. I don’t understand…you’ve proven you’re capable of handling yourself, so why?”</p><p>            “You’re <em>wrong</em> about them, Shaun. You’ve been wrong about everything. That’s why”.</p><p>            “Look around you, mother! Look at the ruins that were once the city you and my father called home! Compare what lies here now in this…this mass grave! To the future that could be had in the Institute? You insist there’s a life that could be had here for you, for the synths, for the people of the Commonwealth…and <em>I’m </em>the one who’s wrong?!”</p><p>            “<em>Don’t talk about Nate</em>”. She felt long-suppressed anger rising from her own voice now, threatening to tear her apart. The emotional vitriol that had been pent up in her body and soul was now rising with an explosive fury. “You don’t <em>get</em> to talk about the future anymore, Shaun. Your father’s future ended the moment Kellogg put a bullet in him and stole you away, and so did mine. As a matter of fact, I suspect the son I once knew died on that same day. <em>It’s over</em>”.</p><p>            Her bitter words burned her tongue and heart. Shaun, too, seemed taken aback, staring at her in disbelief and anger as she lashed out.</p><p>            “I <em>dreamed</em> of you, you know? In this world and the one before it…watching you grow up. Seeing what you would be like as an adult. Now, here you are, someone else’s baby…and I’m <em>so</em> disappointed. I can’t be a part of your plans anymore, Shaun. I can’t”.</p><p>            “You’re <em>joking,</em>” Shaun said, uncharacteristic confusion written across his face. “After <em>everything</em> you’ve seen and done; everything you went through to find me…you’re just going to walk away? You’re going to leave behind the life you could have had alongside me in the Institute? You’re going to leave me to my <em>final days, </em>mother? Alone?”</p><p>            “Doctor Volkert’s visit…” Nora realized. “Shaun…are you sick?” There was a long silence before he responded.</p><p>            “Cancer,” he finally said. “Terminal cancer”.</p><p>            “I get it now. Shaun. You thought it was our last chance to be together”.</p><p>            “Yes”. At Shaun’s confirmation, she felt her knees give out as she sank to the floor. “Though perhaps I should have just left you in that Vault as the life support went out”.</p><p>            “I wish you had”.</p><p>            “I failed to do so only out of the best of intentions, mother. In that way, I suppose we are alike. I had hoped we could be something of a family again. I had hoped you shared our vision for the future. I’m afraid there’s no room for sentimentality, mother. If you are not with us, then you are against us. Whatever you do, do not interfere with the Institute’s plans going forward”.</p><p>            “I hope…” his last words to her surprised them both. “I hope you can find some amount of peace someday”. With nothing else to say to her, he reached up to an earpiece.</p><p>            “This is Doctor Grayson. We’re done here. Disable Courser chip S9-41. Requesting return relay”. With a flash of blue light, he was gone. For countless minutes, she stared at the place her son had once been, reflecting on her journey from Vault 111 to find him and how it had all been for nothing. A soft smile rose to her face as she thought of the word <em>peace</em>. Her hand reached for the Deliverer. One well-placed 10mm round would finally solve all her problems.</p><p>
  <em>            I’ve lost Shaun, all over again. </em>
</p><p>            The sound of alarms in the distance --- <em>Brotherhood sirens</em> --- snapped her out of her trance. It was solely curiosity that prompted her to turn around, but <em>horror</em> overtook her as she realized Cambridge Police Station was on fire.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0041"><h2>41. Para Bellum</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 41: In which Nora addresses her choices with the Brotherhood of Steel.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>PARA BELLUM</h1><p>
  <em>“We’d never know what’s right without the pain/sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same” – The Fray “All At Once”</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>            The fire escape allowed her quick access from the rooftop of the main campus of what had once been the Commonwealth Institute of Technology. Rushing into the epicenter of dark smoke plumes, she could hear the sounds of laser fire as the Brotherhood and the Institute clashed. Once upon a time, she’d put herself her own problems to assist the Brotherhood at the police station. Here she was, overwhelmed, rushing in again. Brotherhood soldiers and Institute synths were strewn across the road as the Brotherhood continued trying to defend themselves against the onslaught.</p><p>            With the Deliverer in hand, Nora found herself quickly dispatching synths. Knight Rhys, recognizing the familiar Vault 111 jumpsuit, could scarcely recognize the battle-hardened woman underneath it.</p><p>            “Mulyer?!”</p><p>            “What the hell happened?!”</p><p>            “Goddamned synths just started popping up everywhere! One of them shot up fuel tanks in the garage! The fire’s spreading!”</p><p>            “Did you evacuate?!”</p><p>            “Hard to do a fucking headcount when you’re getting shot at! Can’t get to the water reserves to put the fire out!”</p><p>            “Where are they?!”</p><p>            “Back room! Tried to get Haylen to respond but…” Rhys’ voice was tinged in panic.</p><p>            “I’m on it!” Without thinking, she rushed into the burning building, scrambling to the back of the police station to find a heavy water tanker. Haylen was alone, attempting to move it.</p><p>            “What the hell are you doing?! You need <em>power armor</em> to move that thing alone!”</p><p>            “I…” Haylen struggled, “…can’t leave this place to burn!”</p><p>            “It’s not worth your fucking life! Come with me!” Haylen pushed Nora away in desperation.</p><p>            “Either <em>help</em> me or get out! There’s men locked in the brig! I can’t leave them!”</p><p>            “I’ll get them out! RUN!”</p><p>            “Wha?! How?” It was too late. Nora had already disappeared into the main part of the police station, scrambling into a smoke-filled corridor to find two men locked in Brotherhood jail cells, panicking. One was a Knight who Nora later learned was awaiting a trial for disorderly conduct, while the other was a Scribe caught stealing Caps. Grabbing one of many bobby pins off of her belt and a pocketed screwdriver, she set to work on the Knight’s jail cell.</p><p>            “We’re dead! Just run!” He told her.</p><p>            “There’s power armor still somewhere, right?!”</p><p>            “I…I think there’s some in one of the storage rooms!” To the Knight’s surprise, the jail door suddenly swung open.</p><p>            “Grab it and help Haylen take that tanker outside! That’s an order!”</p><p>            “Yes ma’am!” He rushed to the storage rooms to obey her orders, not stopping to look back as Nora quickly unlocked the Scribe’s jail cell.</p><p>            “I’ll help!” She yelled.</p><p>            “No!” Nora commanded her. “The storage rooms! Are there mines?!”</p><p>            “Yes ma’am!”</p><p>            “What kind?!”</p><p>            “Fragmentation, plasma….a couple cryo mines too!”</p><p>            “Bring me the cryo mines and take the rest outside!”</p><p>            “Why?!’</p><p>            “NOW!”</p><p>            “Knight!” Nora could hear Haylen in the background as the lower floors completely filled with smoke. They didn’t have much longer. “W-what’re you doing!”</p><p>            “Praying this fucking works!” The Knight who’d been freed from the brig managed to quickly get to Haylen with a suit of armor, grabbing the tanker and escorting Haylen outside.</p><p>            “Put the fire out from the garage!” Nora yelled.</p><p>            “What about the hallway?!”</p><p>            “I’ll handle it, Haylen! Get out of here!” The Scribe had managed to find the cryo grenades and mines and handed them to Nora. Finding a fallen Brotherhood flag on the floor, Nora wrapped the cloth around her face before ushering the others outside and focusing her attention on the burning hallway. She’d seen something once on television, in the world before the bombs dropped. With no other ideas, she primed the cryo grenades and threw them into the source of the fire, her injured shoulder screaming as she hurled the bomb forward. The heat caused a quicker detonation than normal, and the cryo grenades suddenly covered the hallway in liquid nitrogen and ice. The ensuing water put a dent in the fires on the wall, but they weren’t <em>enough</em>. Feeling dizzy from smoke inhalation, she threw the mines forward before aiming her pistol at the lights marking them as active and shooting at them. There had been several more mines than grenades in the back, and by the second mine, Nora had managed to set off a chain reaction, <em>covering </em>the hallway in a solid sheet of ice. Smoke still bellowed from the garage, but the flames that had once been seeping into the hallway were now almost non-existent. With no fire extinguishers in sight, she untied the flag around her mouth and beat the remaining flames down before stuffing the flag into the crack of the garage doorway. Her fingers burned from the heat generated on the other end of the door. Struggling to stay conscious, she managed to get to the front door, letting out the smoke that remained in the building as her lungs rejoiced at fresh air.</p><p>            The last of the synths had been dispatched, and the water tanker that Nora had helped free from the station was now being put to good use quelling the brunt of the fire. Exhausted, she hobbled over to Knight Rhys, clutching her injured shoulder with her left arm. For once, he seemed <em>relieved</em> to see her.</p><p>            “Holy shit,” he muttered, looking at her with amazement. “You saved our asses”.</p><p>            “Again!” Haylen could be heard in the background yelling.</p><p>            “Yeah,” he admitted begrudgingly. “I guess this <em>is</em> the second time, isn’t it?”</p><p>            “Please tell me there’s still a radio working,” Nora said.</p><p>            “I don’t think the fire got all the way up to the roof,” Haylen said, coming closer. “There’s a second radio posed at the top floor”.</p><p>            “Good, we need to hurry…” Without elaborating more, Nora ran up back into the now partially-ventilated building and navigated up to the top floor. Going room by room and opening more windows, she found a working radio at the end of the hall. A distress signal was being broadcast from the Prydwen. “All available units!”</p><p>            The voice was that of Lancer-Captain Kells. “Report to the Boston Airport immediately! The airport is under attack! Repeat, the airport is under—”</p><p>            <em>Shit</em>, Nora thought to herself, changing the frequency on the radio to intercept a radio signal from the Castle.</p><p>            “Castle? Castle, can you read me?”</p><p>            “General?!”</p><p>            “Cambridge Police Station was attacked. The Prydwen’s dealing with a major offensive? What about the Castle?”</p><p>            “Nothing yet. We’re on high alert! We’re trying to gather all intelligence we can, but Deacon reports several of his contacts went <em>dark</em> at Bunker Hill. There was a huge disaster there! Minutemen on patrol in the eastern Commonwealth have been scrambling to make it there!”</p><p>            <em>Between the Brotherhood and the Institute, there’s no telling what the hell happened to the Railroad…</em></p><p>“Can we spare <em>anyone</em>?”</p><p>            “We don’t have Vertibirds, General! We’ll never get our men across the bay in time! Besides, what the hell can we give the Brotherhood that they don’t already have when it comes to war?!” Nora wracked her brain for a moment before realizing…</p><p>            …<em>artillery support.</em> The Castle was the only settlement so far that had <em>tested</em> artillery, but more units were under construction at a few other settlements.</p><p>            “Can we fire artillery?”</p><p>            “From the Castle?! We’ll hit the Prydwen!”</p><p>            “Not the Castle! Nordhagen! Taffington! Starlight?”</p><p>            “Starlight’s out of range! Taffington’s artillery isn’t finished! Nordhagen only finished their artillery units last night! We haven’t even managed a test fire!”</p><p>            “Will we hit the Prydwen from Nordhagen?”</p><p>            “No, but we might wind up shooting into the bay!”</p><p>            “Screw the lake! Take the damn shots!”</p><p>            “We don’t know where we’re aiming at, especially with uncalibrated artillery! What good will it do if we miss?!”</p><p>            “I’ll think of something! Is Danse still there?!”</p><p>            “He’s trying to establish contact with the airport on another radio!”</p><p>            “Tell him to keep trying! Broadcast <em>anything</em> you learn on Radio Freedom! I have to go!” She left the intercom hanging off the table as she ran from the radio room to the main part of the police station. Cambridge Police Station had a new Paladin on command since Danse’s re-assignment to the Castle. Paladin Zena looked over at Nora once the Knight-Sergeant re-emerged from the stairwell.</p><p>            “Knight-Sergeant? The Prydwen?”</p><p>            “Under attack! The Minutemen are busy cleaning up Bunker Hill and I’ve lost contact with some of my intelligence agents”.</p><p>            “Fuck,” Rhys could be heard swearing in the background. “Now we’re stuck here with our thumbs up our asses”.</p><p>            “We don’t have enough men and women standing to send a detachment to the Prydwen,” Paladin Zena said worriedly. “If the police station gets attacked again…”</p><p>            “I can help,” Nora winced, holding her shoulder.</p><p>            “With that arm? Even if I gave you a Lancer to fly you up there…”</p><p>            “No, ma’am!” Nora told the Paladin. “I’ve got a plan!”</p><p>            “Here’s hoping it’s as good as the last one,” the Knight from the brig added. “The woman’s a damn quick thinker”.</p><p>            “I’ve heard. What’s your plan, Knight-Sergeant?”</p><p>            “I’ve got artillery markers for the Minutemen. I radioed one of my settlements. We can fire artillery at the airport”.</p><p>            “Knight-Sergeant, are you <em>nuts</em>?! You’re suggesting raining bombs on our own men! What if you hit the Prydwen!”</p><p>            “I won’t! Nordhagen’s on the opposite end of the bay; they’ll hit the lake before they hit the ship. I need your cooperation for this to work! I need the best Lancer you can get me so I can get aerial surveillance of the Prydwen…and I need you to radio the airport and tell them to <em>fall back!</em>”</p><p>            “You’re insane!”</p><p>            “<em>Trust me!</em>” Nora begged the Paladin. “We’ve done weapons tests! I can make sure they don’t hit our own men, but I need you to <em>ensure</em> the Brotherhood fall back behind a certain line!”</p><p>            “And how will you keep the <em>synths</em> ahead of that line?!”</p><p>            “…Knight. Scribe”. Nora gestured to the two soldiers she’d freed from the brig. “Your power armor, and those extra grenades”. She looked back at the Paladin. “I’m going to need the extra protection”.</p><p>            “Are you <em>suicidal</em>?! Elder Maxson’ll have my head if I let yo—”</p><p>            “<em>If we don’t do this, there’s might not be an Elder Maxson tomorrow</em>!” Nora screamed. “And I don’t…I can’t…”</p><p>            She felt her voice raise again. “When this is done, you can give me a radio and I’ll do Minutemen paperwork from the brig if I have to. If you won’t help me, I’ll fly the damned plane and operate the radio myself! Just…help me! Please! <em>I don’t have anything else left to lose besides the Commonwealth</em>”.</p><p>#</p><p>            “Knight!” Paladin Zena’s voice came through clearly from the Vertibird’s radio. “I got a hold of Lancer-Captain Kells! The synths are teleporting in from the areas around the airport! The wreckage of airplanes around the Prydwen and the parking garage on the edge of the grounds! They’ve sent in so many synths our men haven’t managed to break clear of our defensive lines!”</p><p>            “Did you tell them to stay there?!”</p><p>            “Yes! Be careful, Knight! Even the higher-ups are on the ground fighting!”</p><p>            “We’re closing in on the grounds, ma’am!” The Lancer flying the Vertibird added on the radio. The Prydwen was within sight; Nora and Lancer Adam could see an exchange of red and blue laser shots and the telltale signs of Institute reinforcements coming in through the parking garage and from the furthest reaches of the ruined airplanes. Nora grabbed a few readied artillery grenades and stood at the door of the Vertibird. Gripping a rail on the Vertibird’s interior with her left arm, she used her aching right arm to aim the artillery grenades. A shot of Med-X while suiting up in the power armor had dulled the pain, but she knew that if she lived to see tomorrow, it would probably be with a sling on her arm.</p><p>            <em>Let’s hope Cade survives this and gives me that lecture tomorrow…</em></p><p>            “Paladin, ma’am! Tell Kells to tune to Radio Freedom! After that, radio the Castle and tell them they’re about to see the smoke! They’ll tell Nordhagen to blow the parking garage to smithereens!” With her own Pip-Boy already adjusted to the same station, Nora found herself able to throw down a smoke grenade squarely unto the parking garage. Lancer Adam accelerated quickly away from the parking garage, and Nora could see closer Brotherhood forces retreating behind the airport’s defensive fortification. As the Vertibird circled back around and headed to the ruined fuselages, a familiar voice echoed on Radio Freedom.</p><p>            “General!” Preston Garvey could be heard yelling. “Firing artillery!”</p><p>#</p><p>            When was the last time he’d worn power armor? In the days after becoming <em>Elder</em> Maxson, Arthur spent most of his days at the helm of the Prydwen or behind a desk filling out paperwork. Still being in his prime meant daily workouts and practice with weapons. It was a source of immense pride for him that he could still hold his own in the thick of battle. Adding specially modified power armor and the best gatling gun the Brotherhood had at their disposal made Arthur Maxson even more of a force to be reckoned with.</p><p>            If he and many of the other veteran soldiers had not arrived on the ground and personally assisted with defending the airport, the grounds surely would have been overrun by now. Even with their superior firepower and air support, the Brotherhood found the Institute to be <em>too</em> formidable to handle on their own. What good was shooting down a synth if two more popped up in its place? He found himself praying to the Creator for a miracle as he stood on the frontlines, defending his soldiers. Kells may have been the Captain of the Prydwen, but if the Brotherhood fell, it was Maxson who sank with the ship.</p><p>            Somewhere in the midst of everything that was happening, he’d heard that the Minutemen were attempting to mobilize support for the airport. With the Brotherhood struggling enough already, Maxson was hoping Nora and her own forces wouldn’t be caught in the thick of it. When the <em>boom</em> of artillery fire suddenly flew through the air, Maxson saw the parking garage full of synths begin to crumble, eliminating <em>hundreds</em> of synths at once.</p><p>            <em>Nora</em>.</p><p>            “Get down!” He found himself screaming at his troops. “Air support has arrived!”</p><p>            He’d once read about something called a <em>Hail Mary Pass: </em>a gambit in an old game called football with a low chance of success, only used in times of desperation. The Old-World anecdote had become a colloquialism used to refer to <em>any</em> strategy used in a time of desperation. A second plume of signal smoke for the Minutemen’s artillery launchers could be seen rising from beyond where the Brotherhood’s furthest signal jammers were set up. Most of the synths had already caught unto the idea and attempted to move <em>past</em> the wreckage, putting debris from the airport ruins between the Brotherhood’s firing line and the hiding place. The faint image of grenades raining down from out of the Vertibird could be seen; whoever was up there was boxing the synths into a corner. A second volley of artillery shots soon followed, this time from the opposite side of the bay as the Castle, slamming into the airplane wreckage and levelling the playing field. Suddenly the synth numbers were greatly reduced, and there was nowhere left for them to <em>hide</em>. To the Brotherhood’s shock, they’d just been saved by the Commonwealth Minutemen. Maxson could see the Vertibird lower and hover from a particular height as a power-armor clad Brotherhood soldier, unidentifiable to him, jumped out of the plane. Lancer-Captain Kells’ voice echoed through the airport speakers: <em>“We’re clear to engage the remaining synths!</em>”</p><p>            The tide had already begun to turn for the Brotherhood. With no more environmental barriers to hide synths behind and a large number of synths crushed by artillery shells, their seemingly infinite enemy was now a much smaller, more manageable threat. The Brotherhood’s frontline soldiers rushed the field, able to clear out the remainder of the synths on even terms. Maxson joined them, gunning down mechanical synths with full satisfaction, eyes trying to scan for the soldier he’d seen jump from the Vertibird, who’d been lost in the sea of power armor. When the smoke finally cleared and he was out of his power armor, he checked amongst the dead first, relieved not to see Nora’s face among the bodies.</p><p>#</p><p>            When Arthur finally found Nora, it was at the ground hospital of the infirmary. She was wincing in pain as a medical scribe set her shoulder back into place and readied a sling.</p><p>            “<em>Damn</em>, Knight-Sergeant. You really know how to make an entrance, huh?”</p><p>            “I had h-…ow! …help…”</p><p>            “Sorry. I’ve given you all the Med-X I can”.</p><p>            “I know, Scribe. Just…I’ll manage. Make it quick”.</p><p>            “Alright, one more time. One…two…” There was an unnerving, indescribable <em>sound</em> as Nora’s shoulder was popped back into place. Maxson could see her bite her lip in pain as he approached.</p><p>            “Alright, Knight, I’m going to get you a …Elder!” The Scribe quickly jumped to attention and saluted. Maxson gestured for the formalities to be put aside.</p><p>            “Do what you need to for her,” he said softly. “I won’t get in your way. Mulyer…should I come back later?”</p><p>            Nora’s face seemed pensive. On his way from the battlefront to the morgue to the infirmary, he’d already heard <em>stories</em> about her at Bunker Hill and Cambridge in one single day. Somehow, in the midst of everything, she’d found time to bail out the Prydwen from certain doom too. At first, there were concerns that her appearance all over the Commonwealth in one single day indicated she might have actually been a synth after all. These rumors were quickly squashed by a squad from Bunker Hill who reported that she’d helped them kill a second Courser, and that they <em>saw</em> her get teleported involuntarily away from Bunker Hill. Most of the higher-ups were clamoring about making her a Paladin for her exceptional valor and quick thinking.</p><p>            “Can I talk to you alone when I’m all patched up?” Nora asked. “It’s important…”</p><p>            “Yes,” Maxson nodded. “Of course”.</p><p>            “It’s…” she sighed. “Also <em>kinda</em> personal”. The Scribe took this as a note to finish putting Nora’s arm in a sling quickly and leave the bunk. Rather than remain behind the curtain at her hospital bunk, Nora began looking for a more secluded area. Maxson eventually realized that there was a storage closet with thick concrete walls, once used to store heavy machinery for cleaning the airport. After he’d escorted Nora to that closet and posted a guard at the door, he pulled Nora into one of the corners of the isolated closet and whispered softly, “What’s wrong?”</p><p>            “We need to talk about the Institute”. She pointed at her Pip-Boy, still sitting on the arm that was now folded into the sling. “They…<em>locked me out</em>”.</p><p>            “After their attack on the Brotherhood, I was expecting that,” Maxson nodded. “No matter. Doctor Li’s here working closely with Proctor Ingram. Proctor Quinlan should be back on track de-crypting the Institute data after this unfortunate incident. You don’t have to worry about the Institute anymore, though I suspect your courageous defense of us today means that we’ll have to repay your graciousness at the Castle. If <em>I</em> were the leader of the Institute, that artillery of yours would be my next target”.</p><p>            “This war of yours just got <em>much</em> more volatile, Arthur”.</p><p>            “I’m…<em>sorry</em> I got your Minutemen involved”.</p><p>            “Protect the people at a minute’s notice,” Nora smiled sadly. “<em>All</em> the people”. He could feel the heat rising to his face as she said that. If only more people in the Brotherhood, the Commonwealth…the <em>world</em>, were like her.</p><p>            “When they come for the Castle,” Arthur vowed, “<em>we’ll be there</em>. And when we go for the Institute…I’ll get Shaun out for you <em>personally</em>, if I have to, no matter what that costs me”.</p><p>            “No you won’t”.</p><p>            Arthur recoiled for a moment in confusion before trying to cheer her up. “Nora, after <em>everything</em> you’ve done, you know damned well we’d return the favor…”</p><p>            “I know you <em>would</em>. The problem is you <em>can’t</em>. That’s why I wanted to talk to you, Arthur”. Somewhere in his mind, Arthur Maxson realized he was not going to like where this conversation was going.</p><p>            “What’d they do?” He asked quietly.</p><p>            “What did <em>Shaun</em> do is the better question. I need you to know that everything I told you was true, Arthur. They kidnapped my baby from Vault 111. They held me on ice while they raised him and brainwashed him. They used his DNA to refine their synths into the ‘nigh-perfect’ imitations of humans you’ve seen today”.</p><p>            “You’ve already told me this. What you’re implying is that they did something else and you didn’t tell me…” he realized.</p><p>            “I didn’t know how…” she said. “I was barely keeping hold of my sanity. I’m still not entirely sure I know what sanity means anymore. What I’m about to tell you is <em>crazy</em>…but you should know”.</p><p>            “Please don’t be mad,” she added quietly. She felt his hand inch forward to hers, squeezing gently.</p><p>            “Did you know they were going to attack the Brotherhood of Steel?”</p><p>            “Not until it was too late”.</p><p>            “When did they tell you?”</p><p>            “About five minutes before they practically <em>threw</em> me into Bunker Hill in the middle of the attack. I was supposed to stop the Brotherhood and the Railroad from interfering with their plans but…”</p><p>            “You chose us instead,” he realized. “…over <em>Shaun</em>.”</p><p>            “It gets worse,” she added. “I hadn’t even come to terms with my decision when it happened. I was trying to explain everything to a Paladin after the Courser was dead. It all happened so fast…”</p><p>            “They teleported you away, I know. <em>What did they do?</em>”</p><p>            “Shaun and I had a talk…” she whispered.</p><p>            “That’s all?”</p><p>            “Shaun’s the leader of the Institute, Maxson. <em>That’s </em>what I didn’t tell you”.</p><p>            “Wait…<em>what?!</em>”</p><p>            “I <em>knew</em> you’d be upset. I wasn’t <em>trying</em> to hide anything from you, I just…<em>didn’t know</em> what to say. I <em>still</em> don’t entirely believe it but I saw them take the DNA sample from Shaun and Cade wouldn’t lie! I told Danse I was looking for an infant when I first met him because it was true…but then I went to Diamond City and I found out Shaun was ten!”</p><p>            “And then you went to the Institute…”</p><p>            “…and I found out Shaun was sixty”.</p><p>            “And,” he thought for a moment before asking, “the <em>rest</em> of the story is true? No lies?”</p><p>            “All of it. Every word. I just…his <em>age</em>. What he <em>is</em>. What’s he’s <em>done</em>…”</p><p>            “Anyone would have difficulty processing that. When did you leave the Vault?”</p><p>            “October 23<sup>rd</sup>”.</p><p>            “Of the year 2287?”</p><p>            “Yes”.</p><p>            “So…in the span of less than four months you’ve had the metaphorical rug involving your only child’s whereabouts pulled out from under you more times than either of us could possibly count,” Maxson said quickly. “Not to mention, you first breached the Institute less than two weeks ago. I suspect you may be in great need of professional help when this is done, considering it was so difficult for you to give me the full details until now. However, even with your son at the helm of our greatest enemy, you never once <em>betrayed</em> us. Betrayal is a punishable offense…but <em>shellshock</em> isn’t. I can find a way to get you through this”.</p><p>            “Though,” he added, “maybe it’s best we don’t tell anyone else about Shaun”.</p><p>            “So…what happens now?”</p><p>            “You let <em>me</em> figure that out”. Very gently pulling Nora into a close hug, he allowed his brain to work out the details of the situation that had just unfolded. He could be a reasonable man when he wanted to be, but others among the Brotherhood High Command would not be so <em>kind</em> to Nora; they’d have to find out about Shaun’s true nature first, and Maxson wasn’t going to let that happen. “Nora, does anyone else know?”</p><p>            “Preston and Deacon --- two of my right-hand men at the Castle. I cracked and told them”.     </p><p>            “Not Danse?”</p><p>            “No, he would have told you and that would have spiraled things further out of control”.</p><p>            “Does anyone else in the Brotherhood know?”</p><p>            “No”.</p><p>            “And can Preston and Deacon be trusted?”</p><p>            “Yes”.</p><p>            “Alright…make sure it stays that way. As far as anyone else needs to know, Brotherhood or otherwise, your son is ten. Outside of being forced to participate in Institute operations with your son as their hostage, you have no ties to the Institute’s leader. Shaun was killed after you betrayed the Institute at Bunker Hill. We didn’t find out until <em>after</em> we dealt with the Institute. It was a devastating emotional blow to you, and I made the decision to suspend you from any further activities after the war besides your involvement with the Minutemen, for the sake of your own mental health. It’ll buy me time to work out any issues if someone presses too hard for more information. It’ll probably also buy you some time to properly grieve your family rather than immediately be expected to marry me. Is that <em>clear</em>?”</p><p>            “Shaun knew about us. The Institute has eyes everywhere”.</p><p>            “Oh god, don’t tell me there’s a synth among us…”</p><p>            “No. Apparently, they use those <em>crows</em> that fly around the Commonwealth”.</p><p>            “Like we need more problems. How did a crow tell your son about our relationship?”<br/>
            “Gossip from Brotherhood patrols”.</p><p>            “Good god, I’m going to flog the next person I hear gossiping…”</p><p>            “Don’t. It’s too late now”. She put one hand to her belly. “He even knows we slept together. Even for the Institute, it’s too early to tell if that <em>means</em> anything…but”.</p><p>            “I’m not following”.</p><p>            “I already lost a child, Maxson. I don’t want to <em>spell </em>this out but…y’know”. She made a gesture at her stomach that Maxson suddenly understood meant something <em>very</em> serious.</p><p>            “I should be happier…” he mumbled. “Now I’m just terrified”.</p><p>            “You?” She scoffed. “Terrified? <em>That</em> takes work. Look…I don’t mean to alarm you, Arthur. It’s just…cards on the table, y’know? We only did that <em>once</em>, and I can’t imagine all the stress is conductive to making a baby. We could find out in a few weeks we had nothing to worry about”.</p><p>            “That does nothing to stop me from worrying <em>now</em>,” he mumbled. “But I appreciate your honesty”.</p><p>            “It was a long time coming. When this war is done, we’re going to have to be <em>very</em> honest with each other if this political marriage is going to work. I figured I’d start now”. His only response was to reach into a pocket on the inside of his coat, handing her a key.</p><p>            “What’s this?”</p><p>            “I told you I’d have a spare key made, remember? Maybe we should get your holotags changed too”.</p><p>            “After the Castle,” she nodded, taking the key. “Or wait, didn’t you say after the war?”</p><p>            “I changed my mind,” he smirked. “I might have a ring made too before you know it”. With nothing else to say, he walked away to relieve the guard standing outside.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This chapter got a bit ....fluffy. But damn, Nora needs it. Our girl is truly kicking ass and taking names, and as Ronnie Shaw said, half the Commonwealth loves her for it now.</p><p>Especially Maxson. I love that this started out as a political/DNA thing and then it turned into him genuinely being head over heels for her now. </p><p>Side notes: this chapter and chapter 40 were originally meant to be one thing, but I made the decision to split it so that I could have a lovely cliffhanger at "Si Vis Pacem" AND refine Maxson's final conversation with Nora.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0042"><h2>42. Toy Soldier</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 42: In which Nora confronts her dreams and her nightmares.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>TOY SOLDIER</h1><p><em>“It’s so quiet here/and I feel so cold/this house no longer/feels like home</em>” – <em>Ben Cocks “So Cold”</em></p><hr/><p>            Clutching the sheets in ecstasy, she could feel heat pooling in her abdomen as her back began to arch. Her fingertips and toes were curling, on fire, as he filled every last inch of her. There was no denying that Nora <em>loved </em>this feeling: feeling him clutch her close to him, feeling them both throb against each other, feeling one of his large hands on her face and the other on one of her breasts.</p><p>            “F-fuck!”</p><p>            “Goddamn it,” he growled. “I could do this all night?”</p><p>            “I wish you would…”</p><p>            “Is that an invitation?” Nate purred, turning his head between thrusts to lightly nip her neck. That motion <em>ended</em> her; he grinned and bit down a bit more, pushing into her harder and <em>slower</em>. She felt pain. Tightness. Wetness and warmth. Nate noticed his wife’s discomfort, stopping immediately and looking at her with concern.</p><p>            “Nora?”</p><p>            “I…I’m fine. Just a bit <em>tight</em>. I think I’m cramping”.</p><p>            “Guess you’re still not all the way back from having the baby yet,” Nate whispered. “Damn…I knew we shouldn’t hav—”</p><p>            “Nate, I wanted to. It’s my fault”.</p><p>            “We should stop, Nora”.</p><p>            “Are you sure? Maybe we can…”</p><p>            “I <em>don’t</em> want to hurt you,” her husband smiled. “We’ll have <em>lots</em> of time together…maybe tomorrow morning I might be feeling up to a different idea”.</p><p>            “Yeah?”</p><p>            “I’ve been having <em>dreams</em>, I’ll admit”. He pulled himself away from her and pulled Nora close, wrapping his arms around her and brushing her hair. She lightly brushed his arms with her fingertips, admiring his physique. The soldier’s body he maintained had muscles like <em>steel</em>. “They’ve been dirtier than some of the reading material the boys used to keep under their bunks when we were up in Anchorage”.</p><p>            “Didn’t I send you a pin-up picture?”</p><p>            “Of yourself? With my favorite set of pink lingerie and nothing else? <em>Good god</em>, every man in the company was <em>stark raving jealous</em> of those curves. Reminded me of what I was fighting for… but I’m more of a sucker for your face. Speaking of…” He stopped talking. Nora was wincing again in pain.</p><p>            “Nora? You okay?”</p><p>            “Yeah…I’m fine. I just need to get up and go to the bathroom”.</p><p>            “Lemme help you”.</p><p>            “No, no! That’s fine, stay here. I’ll be back in a minute”.</p><p>            “You sure?” He didn’t move fast enough; she’d already risen from the bed and hobbled over to the bathroom. Wondering what the wetness was that was dripping down her thighs, she reached down and noticed the color <em>red.</em></p><p>            <em>This can’t be right. I just had a baby three months ago… </em>The pain was familiar, yet jarring, and before she knew it, she’d woken up in a different bed, in a much darker room than the one she’d left Nate in.</p><p>            The year was 2288, at Fort Independence in the Commonwealth. Nora lifted her sheets to notice spots of blood on the mattress cover. A prior visit to Knight-Captain Cade replayed itself in her mind. He’d warned her she was close to being fertile again; that was on the same day that Arthur Maxson had formally presented her with the marriage offer. Spare bundles of cloth were just outside of Nora’s quarters from a scrap shipment. Nora stepped outside to grab a bundle before returning to her room and cleaning the mess. Once everything was orderly, she laid in bed, realizing that the return of this event put an end to any worry that she was pregnant again.</p><p>            <em>That’s something, at least</em>. She wasn’t ready for life with another child. Elder Maxson explaining to her that the truth about Shaun could not come out was the equivalent of Maxson signing Shaun’s death certificate. As much as such an action was warranted, Nora couldn’t help but feel <em>saddened</em> that it had come to this. Left alone, Shaun would continue a reign of terror in the Commonwealth.</p><p>            It had to be done, but there was no denying that Shaun was irreplaceable to her. No matter what happened in her future, he would always be her firstborn son, and her <em>only</em> child by Nate. She rubbed her wedding band absent-mindedly. The golden band on her right hand was all she’d get to keep of him besides the memories and the occasional impassioned dream. She lifted her left arm up to look at the spot Nate’s ring had once adorned and remembered that Maxson had mentioned having another ring made. He didn’t seem the jealous type, but Nora wondered if his interest was anything more than an old-world formality. It certainly wasn’t commonplace in the Commonwealth to have wedding bands anymore. The only two people she’d known to be married at all were Lancer-Captain Kells and MacCready, and neither of them wore wedding bands. MacCready’s empty hand could be explained by his upbringing, or by the fact that he was currently a widower. Kells, on the other hand, had both social status and a living wife, though it was fair to say that if wedding bands were <em>really</em> a rarity, Maxson would be in more of a position to acquire one.</p><p>            Kells and MacCready were both also <em>men</em>. Perhaps wedding rings, if obtainable, were now something limited only to women. There had been some truth to a Knight-Captain saying that she and Maxson were already more than halfway married. A spare key recently given to her by Arthur had further confirmed this, and yet Nora still only dreamt of Nate’s embrace. She wondered if, up on the Prydwen, Maxson dreamt only of hers. They’d had one torrid afternoon together and Nora felt a bit guilty about <em>grief</em> being the driving factor behind it. In the wake of her entry and banishment from the Institute, they’d not had time to talk about it again save one talk about the now closed case of Nora possibly having become pregnant. After the attacks on the Brotherhood, Nora had returned to the Castle immediately to face the possibility of an Institute attack. Arthur remained in his own home at the Prydwen, continuing his work managing the war effort and preparing a detachment of Brotherhood troops that had arrived last night. There were certainly more crows in the area than before, but Shaun was strangely silent. Two of the three synths who were smuggled within the Castle had been sent out on separate caravans to Goodneighbor for processing, while a third (the most ‘stable’ of the group), remained on the Castle masquerading as a friend of Glory’s named Simon.</p><p>            The Railroad had been attacked on the same day as Bunker Hill. Desdemona had managed to escape the chaos and resurface in Goodneighbor, but Deacon had lamented that Drummer Boy and several other Railroad members had died in the attack, and that any synths still left within the Church had been reclaimed by the Institute.</p><p>            “At least you helped us free <em>some</em> of them,” Deacon had said. “It’s cold comfort, but P.A.M says we can reduce turnover time between synths with you around. Giving them safe harbor at various settlements means we don’t have to ship them all the way out of the Commonwealth. Once we get them a face change and a new head of memories in Goodneighbor, they just need a place to settle. Now we just need to deal with the Institute and the Brotherhood”.</p><p>            “The Institute comes first,” Nora sighed. “There’s no reasoning with them”.</p><p>            “Even <em>you</em> can’t tackle them both at once. I understand, boss”.</p><p>            Thinking of the various challenges that still laid ahead, Nora found herself not getting anymore sleep for the night. In the early morning of the 6<sup>th</sup>, she made a point to seek out Doctor Beltier and get a checkup. Some pain medication for her cramps wouldn’t hurt; checking in with Beltier given that Cade was on the other side of the bay would be even better. Doctor Carrington, a late sleeper, wasn’t in the infirmary yet.</p><p>            A wave of <em>fear</em> rose through her when she heard Shaun’s voice in the infirmary, over the radio.</p><p>            “<em>People of the Commonwealth. For years now, you have suspected that the Institute still exists. That we are among you. It is true, but it is not the whole truth. We are here, and we are the future”.</em></p><p>“What is that?” She asked Doctor Beltier. The white-haired doctor was staring at the radio intently.</p><p>            “Diamond City Radio. I went to turn on the morning news and found this. Interesting development”. He left the radio on as he turned to her pensively. “Not often I see <em>you</em> here, General. I notice your arm’s feeling better”.</p><p>            “I was getting tired of that stupid sling”.</p><p>            “Good to hear. Need anything in particular?”<br/>            “I’ve…” she blushed. “Doctor, I’ve been <em>cramping</em>”.</p><p>            “Cramping?”<br/>            “I had my first…er. Period. Since my baby”.</p><p>            “Oh, that must have been a bit of a shock. I’ll see if I have any Stimpaks available”. He moved to a corner of the infirmary, rummaging through the supply. Nora absentmindedly walked over to the radio and listened to her son’s voice.</p><p>            “<em>Today we activate our nuclear reactor, ensuring that we will persevere long after the world above has ceased to exist. Ensuring that mankind has a future</em>”.</p><p>            “I’ll never understand it,” she muttered.</p><p>            “Understand what?”</p><p>            “How they couldn’t just leave well enough alone down there…” She could hear the doctor walking over with a couple of Stimpaks.</p><p>            “There’s so much about the Institute that fascinates people…” Doctor Beltier shrugged. He put a Stimpak on the table and looked at Nora. “We can muse about that later, though. You said your periods returned?”</p><p>            “Yeah…my body’s back to normal, I guess”.</p><p>            “Must be hard when you’re missing your son so much,” the doctor muttered, lifting Nora’s shirt slightly and palpating her lower abdomen. “You don’t seem particularly distended, though. That’s good”.</p><p>            “Normally most doctors ask me to sit on an examination chair when they’re checking things like this,” she mused.</p><p>            “There’s been a lot on my mind recently, General. I’m sure you understand”.</p><p>            “I do,” she said. “The Institute, the Brotherhood, the Minutemen…at one point I thought I might have accidentally wound up with another baby. I get being overworked and overly anxious, Doctor”.</p><p>            “I appreciate your understanding, General”. Listening to the radio, Nora paid little attention to Doctor Beltier, passively preparing for the sensation of him injecting her with one of the Stimpaks sitting on the table.</p><p>            “Well, I can tell you nothing seems out of place,” he said softly, lowering her shirt. Her Vault Suit was in the wash, and a hot flash had caused her to change to looser, airier clothing. The next thing she felt was a stabbing <em>pain</em> in the ribs. She looked down in horror to see that the Doctor had stabbed her with a scalpel. One of his arms grabbed hers. An inhuman grip uncommon in an older man like himself prevented her from breaking free. His face remained passive. Soft. <em>Twistedly reassuring.</em></p><p>            “Allow me to unburden you, Mother”. Before she could react, he threw her into the stone walls of the Castle, further jamming the scalpel into her ribs. He had a gun now, aiming at her head. She heard Doctor Beltier parroting the final part of Shaun’s speech: <em>“You may rest easy. Know that the future is in our hands, and that mankind will thrive under our guidance”.</em></p><p>            The single gunshot that rang out in the Castle walls didn’t send her into the dark. Opening her eyes and finding that she was still breathing and in pain, she noticed Preston in the doorway, holding a .44 revolver.</p><p>            “<em>Jesus! What happened?!</em>” Deacon had run in behind Preston, examining the fallen doctor. From the blood and brain matter, Deacon produced a synth component and yelled out in the hallway.</p><p>            “Danse! I hate to admit it, but <em>you were right! </em>Tell your friends we’re in tro—”</p><p>            Before he could finish that sentence, the sounds of Institute teleportation beams filled the air. The courtyard was now <em>flooded</em> with Gen-1 and Gen-2 synths. To Preston and Deacon’s horror, there were <em>Coursers</em> too. Worst of all, Nora was struggling to rise to her feet. Pulling the scalpel out was only going to cause her to bleed to death.</p><p>            “I’ll get Carrington!” Deacon bolted to the nearest staircase down to the tunnels. Preston scooped Nora up and started pulling her down to the stairs.</p><p>            “Heh,” Nora chuckled. “That doctor got me pretty good…”</p><p>            “Don’t worry General,” Preston nodded, depositing her at the bottom of the stairwell, just out of sight. He started winding up his laser musket as he bolted up the stairs. “We’ve got this. You just focus on staying awake!”</p><p>#</p><p>            Elder Maxson had not slept well on the night of the 5<sup>th</sup>. His dreams were foreign to him now, all involving the General of the Minutemen. Sometimes she was at his kitchen table, eating a brahmin sandwich and making passive conversation with him as he worked. Sometimes he was watching her walk around the Prydwen, attending to various duties: research patrols, Neriah’s mole rat project, tweaking a new set of power armor. Once, he’d had a rather shameful, heated dream about doing things to her he’d only read about. The one that <em>truly</em> shocked him was one where she didn’t even seem to acknowledge him, instead standing at a wrecked Vault entrance, crying over two fresh graves, one large, one <em>painfully</em> small. When he’d reached out to try and comfort her, his hand phased straight through her body. He’d woken up with a start, dressed only in undergarments, heading to the cabinet and shakily pouring himself a glass of bourbon to calm his nerves.</p><p>            When he’d calmed himself down, he heard someone frantically <em>banging </em>on his door. Whoever it was, they weren’t wearing power armor. Once again, a dark premonition washed over him. Whatever was beyond that door was worse than the nightmare he’d woken up from. Quinlan’s voice echoed from the entryway.</p><p>            “Elder!” In response, the young Brotherhood Elder hastily found a pair of pants from a set of fatigues, putting them on while yelling that he’d be out quickly before opening the door to greet Proctor Quinlan.</p><p>            One of the things Elder Maxson liked about Proctor Quinlan was that Quinlan was a very <em>matter-of-fact</em> officer. No nonsense. Cool-headed. Calm. To see the Proctor now standing in front of him, frantically shoving papers into his face at some god-forsaken hour of the morning was <em>not</em> a good sign.</p><p>            “It’s the Institute tape, sir!”</p><p>            “D-did you finish?” Elder Maxson said. Looking over the papers that Quinlan had printed out for him, he noticed that they were all reports of classified Institute projects. F.E.V tests, synthetic biochemistry enhancements, prototype weaponry schematics…<em>Courser modifications</em>.</p><p>            “Ninety percent of the way done, sir! But this couldn’t wait!” Quinlan quickly flipped the records to one particular page and pointed at something <em>particularly </em>offensive. Maxson shook his head, trying to snap to being fully awake as he read the words on the paper. Suddenly, he felt his heart skyrocket into his throat.</p><p>            “<em>Oh shit”.</em></p><p>            “We don’t have much time, sir. I’ve already taken the opportunity to pass the message forward to every unit on the ground, but…”</p><p>            “Did you tell the Castle’s detachment of men first?”</p><p>            “Of course, sir! But…<em>they aren’t responding</em>”. Before Maxson could interrogate him further, a Paladin in full power armor sprinted out from the stairwell commanding the main deck to the barracks and looked right at Elder Maxson.</p><p>            “Sir! We have a situation! The Castle’s under attack! Reports of multiple Coursers!” The shirtless Elder could be seen quickly balling up his fist and launching one powerful punch into the metal walls of his quarters, saying only the word “<em>fuck!</em>”. From the outside of his door, a sizable imprint could be seen.</p><p>            “Quinlan,” Maxson said furiously, ignoring his bleeding knuckles. “Get me<em> everything</em> you have on Coursers from that tape. Immediately”. Slamming the door shut, Maxson sought out the first flight suit he could find and donned his coat.</p><p>#</p><p>            The Institute had committed sizeable resources into the attack on the Castle. Their newfound supply of unlimited power allowed them to funnel in more synths than they could utilize during their attacks on the Brotherhood. In the interest of ending things quickly, the Gen-1 and Gen-2 synths had been backed up by a couple of squadrons of Courser units. While the lower model synths served as unthinking cannon-fodder, the Courser models broke through the waves of Minutemen and Brotherhood soldiers, gunning down the forces initially charged with the Castle’s defense. The remnants of both forces were largely trapped in the tunnels, barricading entrances to keep synths at bay while they attempted to snipe Coursers. Preston’s discovery from Greenetech genetics about shooting a Courser right between the eyes with a high-power laser had been passed on to the rest of the troops. Only armored Brotherhood units like Danse remained in the Castle’s courtyard or on its walls, attempting to mow down the brunt of the Institute’s forces with gatling lasers and Brotherhood rifles while Minutemen marksmen prepared and unloaded sniping shots.</p><p>            “There’s too damned many of them!” A Minuteman yelled.</p><p>            “Core’s down to ten percent!” A Brotherhood Knight reported.</p><p>            “Goddamn it!” Danse yelled. “Where the hell is the General?!” He could hear Preston’s voice on the radio in his suit. “Danse! Cover the staircase by the infirmary!”</p><p>            “Why?!”</p><p>            “It’s the General! They got her first! I’m trying to find Deacon and Carrington!”</p><p>            <em>Oh no</em>.</p><p>            “Right! I’m on it!” He found himself trying to find an unbarricaded entrance, but the only one remaining was all the way at the top of the Castle walls. He noticed a particular Courser busting down the barricade that <em>was</em> closest to the infirmary. Taking the opportunity to run after that Courser, he found himself <em>shocked </em>to see that Courser spin around and push him --- <em>a fully armored Paladin </em>--- through the courtyard.</p><p>            “You’re interrupting me,” the Courser said in a soothing voice. Danse quickly got himself up on his feet only to be swarmed by a sudden wave of Gen-2 synths. A grim realization washed over him as he locked eyes with the Courser: it was looking for Nora. As the Star-Paladin struggled to fling off synths and try to pursue the Courser, he felt a voice in the back of his head tell him that it would take a miracle to win this battle. Artillery fire wasn’t an option. The Minutemen and the Brotherhood didn’t have enough marksmen to dispatch the synths <em>and</em> snipe the Coursers as quickly as they came. He could hear more Vertibirds converging on the location, but they’d never make it to the Castle before that <em>thing</em> made it to Nora Mulyer.</p><p>            At the bottom of the stairs, Nora had managed to pick up some fusion cells and a fallen Institute rifle that had fallen down the stairs. Hobbling to her feet with the scalpel still stuck in her ribs, she started to try and head to the tunnels to find Deacon.</p><p>            “Don’t bother”.</p><p>            She’d heard his voice a thousand times in her head, commenting on every stressful situation that she’d been through in the Commonwealth from the day she’d left the Vault. Her heart ached more than her sides as she turned around slowly to see the Courser. Somehow she’d known the Institute would have stooped so low as to make a synth wearing Nathaniel Mulyer’s face, but she’d still hoped…</p><p>            “It’s you,” she whispered.</p><p>            “Like it? Father thought you’d like to see him one last time”.</p><p>            “You even got the voice right”.</p><p>            “You haven’t forgotten what your husband sounded like?”</p><p>            “I listened to that damned holotape so many times…”</p><p>            “So did the Institute, when you weren’t looking. Of course, it wasn’t hard. Father’s father is still frozen in his tomb in Vault 111. The cryogenics that Vault-Tec were capable were surprisingly capable”.</p><p>            “They couldn’t stop at just Shaun, huh? They had to take from Nate too?”</p><p>            “And you. Who knew tiny little vials of blood could be so useful. If the time comes when Father’s death leaves us with a dearth of pre-War DNA to work with for future projects, my DNA, yours, and the marvels of bioengineering will preserve your genetic legacy for generations to come”.</p><p>            “It’s not <em>your</em> DNA”.</p><p>            “Oh, but it is. Everything your husband was, I am too. Even our careers line up. What is a Courser but an Institute soldier? Of course, <em>I’ve</em> had a few modifications made…”</p><p>            He barely flinched as Nora shot him dead-on in the chest with the Institute pistol. She yelled in fury and unloaded the entire clip into him, aiming the last couple of shots right at his head. As the empty weapon <em>clicked</em> and indicated its uselessness, the Courser <em>giggled</em> and stepped forward.</p><p>            “I told you, I had a little work done. That <em>peashooter</em> isn’t going to be enough”.</p><p>            “You got his looks, his voice, his job. You even got <em>better </em>weapon resistance…but they never gave you his <em>good nature</em>,” Nora said defiantly, struggling to stay on her feet.</p><p>            “It’s too bad that good nature and lack of weapon resistance cost him dearly,” the Courser said, raising his own weapon. “Don’t worry, Nora. You’ll be with him in a second”.</p><p>            “Maybe. I won’t give a glorified toy soldier the satisfaction, though,” she winced. To his surprise, she made one sudden movement, ripping the scalpel out of her ribs and throwing it into his face. Through sheer dumb luck, the scalpel landed squarely in his eye. Her vision began to fade as warmth and redness pooled in her hands. With the last of her strength, she hobbled into the tunnels. She thought for sure as she stumbled and fell a few steps into her escape that this was the end. Suddenly, a figure materialized in front of her, catching the Courser off-guard with his sudden appearance. A fully-charged laser musket shot to the eyes struck the Courser between the eyes, causing it to fall. Preston Garvey threw down a used-up Stealth Boy and drew a pistol, firing into the Courser’s head wound until it stopped moving completely.</p><p>            “Damn, Deacon. The Doctor does good work!”</p><p>            “That laser musket isn’t a joke either!” Deacon nodded, materializing as his own Stealth Boy’s charge ran out and rushing to Nora. Doctor Carrington wasn’t far behind.</p><p>            “Oh no! She ripped out the scalpel!” There was blood <em>everywhere</em>. Nora was struggling to remain conscious as she clutched her torn side.</p><p>            “It…doesn’t hurt…anymore”.</p><p>            “Um…that’s great?” Deacon said, trying to be reassuring. “Hey! Boss! Stay with me!”</p><p>            “Crap, that’s <em>not</em> good!” Carrington groaned, rummaging through scrap items in the tunnels before finding an iron bar.</p><p>            “Preston, crank that musket up as high as it can go and set this rubbish on fire!”</p><p>            “Why?!” Carrington held the iron bar out ominously. “We need this to be <em>white-hot</em>. I’ll never stop the bleeding in time otherwise”.</p><p>            “You’re going to kill her!”</p><p>            “I <em>might</em> kill her. That blood loss <em>will</em>”. Panicking, Preston began cranking up his laser musket as Deacon pulled some Stimpaks from his pockets and injected Nora frantically. She’d stopped moving.</p><p>            “What the hell is happening?!” The newest voice belonged to Danse, who’d freed himself from the courtyard and rushed down to the tunnels to help.</p><p>            “You should be up at the Courtyard!”</p><p>            “They can handle it from here!”</p><p>            “But the Coursers…”</p><p>            “Vertibirds! Several of them! Not to mention a couple of surprises that I’ll explain la— oh god! <em>Is she dead?!</em>”</p><p>            “Danse! Help Deacon hold her! Preston! Light the fuse”. Carrington gripped the iron bar firmly. “<em>This is going to hurt”. </em>The sound of a super-charged laser musket shot lit an empty crate on fire, with Carrington quickly fanning the flames and then sticking the iron into the center of the flame. Once it had gone white-hot, he turned his sights to Nora’s injury. The three men now holding Nora down held on tightly.</p><p>            “Fuck…this is <em>barbaric</em>,” Danse grunted.</p><p>            “Our girl’s no stranger to pain…” Deacon said worriedly. The next thing anyone heard was Nora <em>screaming</em> as the iron bar hit her flesh. Her semi-closed eyes widened as far as they could go, pupils contracting as the pain woke her, then <em>blinded</em> her. As small and frail as she was, everyone holding her found themselves <em>struggling</em>. As Carrington finished his grisly work, the smell of burning flesh lingered in the air. Nora’s eyes had rolled back into her head, and she lay worryingly still.</p><p>            “She’s still there,” Carrington said softly, checking her pulse. “Danse…how bad is it outside?”</p><p>            “Most of the Coursers are neutralized,” Danse said, picking up the unconscious Nora gently. “Quinlan found their recall codes. Maxson broadcasted them over the radio and between that and the gunships that came in as reinforcements, that helped even the odds. We had some outside help too, but it’d take too long to explain…probably better to just <em>show</em> you”.</p><p>            “We need to get her on an operating table!”</p><p>            “No, we can’t manage that kind of surgery here,” Doctor Carrington said quickly. “Especially with our other doctor going turncoat”.</p><p>            “The Prydwen,” Preston said. “Can I radio Maxson?”</p><p>            “Do it, I’ll get Nora on the first Vertibird I can find!”</p><p>            “I’ll give you a couple blood bags!” Carrington added. The group rushed up from the staircase to the courtyard, now littered with synth bodies and deactivated Courser units. Deacon noticed a man he’d never seen before standing at the Castle entrance.</p><p>            “Hey!” The former gunner yelled. “What the hell did I miss?!”</p><p>            “Hell of a fucking marksman, that one. Nailed two Coursers right between the eyes…” Danse muttered as he flagged down a Vertibird. Preston noticed the man as he ran to the radio.</p><p>            “…MacCready!?”</p><p>#</p><p>            “CADE!”</p><p>            The Knight-Captain had already gotten the news, having several scribes and an operating table ready. Nora was no stranger to the Prydwen’s infirmary, but even Cade was stunned to see her in such poor condition when Star-Paladin Danse rushed her through the door.</p><p>            “Danse, <em>what the hell happened?!</em>” Maxson yelled, following behind him.</p><p>            “Synth infiltrator at the Castle, sir. One of the doctors. It stabbed her with a scalpel between the ribs before the attack began”.</p><p>            “A scalpel stab shouldn’t be that difficult to …” Cade trailed off before looking at Danse.</p><p>            “It’s gone. What’s this <em>burn</em>?”</p><p>            “They sent a Courser after her specifically and isolated her off before I could get to her. The others think she must have stabbed him with it when she ran out of bullets…by the time the other doctor got to her…”</p><p>            “They had to <em>cauterize</em> to prevent her from dying of blood loss,” Cade finished his sentence. “It’s a small wound, but it’s <em>deep. </em>Alright, you two, get out. I need to get stop any internal bleeding”.</p><p>            “Cade,” Maxson began.</p><p>            “This is <em>my</em> infirmary, Arthur…and unless you suddenly gained surgical skill, you’re no good here. I’m sure you and Danse have much to discuss”.</p><p>            “We do,” Danse added, tugging Maxson out of the infirmary. Once they’d cleared the infirmary, Danse pulled Maxson off to a corner and added, “they were after her specifically. The flood of synths, the other Coursers, the infiltrator getting her first before the attack began…”</p><p>            “The Courser that attacked her…” Maxson seethed, pulling out a picture from the Institute files. “Did it look like this?”</p><p>            “…yes. Nora showed me a picture once before. It’s supposed to look lik—”</p><p>            “Her late fucking husband, I know…” Maxson spat. “I <em>knew</em> this day couldn’t get any worse”.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Of all the predictions I've seen for this story, no one saw this one coming, I think.</p><p>Double-feature for Saturday.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0043"><h2>43. Gold and Silver, Black and White</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 43: In which Nora finds all too brief time to relax.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>GOLD AND SILVER, BLACK AND WHITE</h1><p>
  <em>“Once I had a love and it was divine/soon found out I was losing my mind” – Blondie “Heart of Glass”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            Shaun was dressed in that striped-shirt she’d first seen him in when she infiltrated Kellogg’s memories. He was rummaging through piles of scrap in the Minutemen armory, barely tall enough to make it to the top of the barrels as he pulled out bits of circuitry.</p><p>            “Mom,” he approached her and asked. “Do you have any parts from a robot?”</p><p>            “Honey?” Neither of them were wearing Vault Suits. Nora found herself wearing a remade version of the General’s uniform that she and the other Minutemen had once found General McGann’s skeleton wearing. They were standing at the Castle, but the walls had been expanded.</p><p>            “C’mon Mom, the caravans have to bring in <em>something</em>, right? I wanna build something…”</p><p>            “You’re playing with circuitry now? Don’t let Sergeant Shaw see you going through our salvage bay unattended…”</p><p>            “<em>Mom…</em>” Shaun whined, before his face suddenly lit up and he ran off behind her.</p><p>            “Hey! Wait! Shaun, where are you going?!”</p><p>            “Dad!”</p><p>            “…<em>Dad</em>?!” That couldn’t be right. Nate was long-dead and buried.</p><p>            <em>Wait. What year is it? Weren’t we under attack? Isn’t Shaun sixty?</em></p><p>            Her young son ran out to the edge of the courtyard where a certain man in a Brotherhood officer’s uniform and an iconic armored coat stepped off of a Vertibird and turned towards the nearest entrance into the Castle, flanked on either side by two Brotherhood Knights. Not that Elder Maxson <em>needed</em> the extra protection.</p><p>            “Dad!” Shaun was standing at the door, waving for attention. Nora noticed Arthur crack a faint smile and stoically wave back.</p><p>            “Causing trouble, young man?” Arthur said as he came closer. His attention turned to Nora. “What did he do <em>this</em> time?”</p><p>            “He…I…<em>Arthur</em>?”</p><p>            “Our son. What did he get into this time?”</p><p>            “Arthur…?” She said again. Shaun looked confused, turning to Nora.</p><p>            “Mom…you married Dad a couple months ago, remember?”</p><p>            “Oh dear, not again,” Arthur said worriedly. “Shaun, you know to <em>radio</em> me when I’m at work and this happens, right?”</p><p>            “But it just happened now! Mom…Dad’s talking! Mom?” Shaun moved to grab her hand, and Nora suddenly found herself being jarred awake by a pulling sensation on her arm. She woke up in the Prydwen infirmary to see a scribe taking an IV bag out of her arm.</p><p>            “…A-Arthur?”</p><p>            “Oh shit! Knight-Captain!” Nora noticed Knight-Captain Cade bolting into the room and examining Nora. “<em>Now</em> what, scribe? Oh! She’s awake!”</p><p>            “She won’t stop saying ‘Arthur’. She even did it in her sleep a couple of times!”</p><p>            “I <em>just</em> convinced Elder Maxson to head to his quarters for the night”.</p><p>            “Did I…<em>do</em> something?” Nora whimpered.</p><p>            “How much do you remember?” The scribe asked her. There was a thick haze at first, but Nora searched the fog of her recent memories to remember a scalpel in her ribs and a Courser with a familiar face hunting her down.</p><p>            “J-Jesus…they really tried to kill me”. <em>Shaun</em> had really tried to kill her. This incident was undoubtedly retribution for interfering with the Institute attack on the Brotherhood.</p><p>            “Well, seems I don’t have a lot of explaining to do,” Cade sighed. “All intelligence points at the Institute attack being directed at two objectives, Knight-Sergeant. Destroying the Minutemen’s ability to operate artillery, and assassinating you”.</p><p>            “They made that…<em>thing</em> look like Nate,” Nora winced, struggling to get up.</p><p>            “Careful, Mulyer! You’re all stitched up, don’t <em>tear</em> anything!”</p><p>            “I’m so dizzy…”</p><p>            “Well, yeah,” the scribe chided her. “We’ve been having to pump you full of blood. The Castle had some on reserve that they flew along with you. Star-Paladin Danse also turned out to have a compatible blood type; he gave you some too. I dunno if it was when the scalpel went in or when it got ripped out, but you nicked a major vein”.</p><p>            “Couple of smaller arteries too. One more, maybe, and you never would have made it here,” Cade warned her. “Now I know you’ve been out for two days and you’re probably very uncomfortable, but sit up <em>carefully</em>. I’m…<em>ugh</em>…going to have to go wake up the Elder”. Leaving Nora and the scribe alone for a moment, Knight-Captain Cade walked over to his medicine cabinet and dispensed two aspirin for himself as he mentally prepared himself to wake up a very angry Elder. To his surprise, as soon as Cade opened the main door leading out to the rest of the Prydwen, he found Elder Maxson standing at the infirmary door.</p><p>            “I know, I know,” the young Elder muttered. “I’m supposed to be sleeping. I have a <em>splitting </em>headache getting in the way”.</p><p>            “You’re not going to believe this, but I was coming to wake you up”.</p><p>            “You were?”</p><p>            “I’ll pass you some aspirin, Elder. Nora Mulyer woke up a few minutes ago”. Maxson looked at Cade with bewilderment before nodding and heading towards where he’d last seen Nora. Cade, grabbing the aspirin bottle, followed behind the Elder.</p><p>            “Arth—” before she could finish, he’d swooped in and hugged her, catching both Cade and the attending scribe by surprise; Elder Maxson was not known for being an emotional man.</p><p>            “You had me worried sick,” he grumbled.</p><p>            “I’m sorry. I—”</p><p>            “It’s not your fault. It’s the Institute’s fault…and partially mine. You and I both talked about the possibility of an attack on the Castle happening, but I figured they’d go for the artillery. I never thought for a moment they’d spend so much energy on just trying to kill <em>you</em>. If I’d have actually stopped to think about it for a moment, it would have been so much safer to just keep you <em>here</em>”.</p><p>            “And then they would have tried to draw me out some way,” Nora scoffed. “The moment I chose to get involved when the police station and the airport were getting attacked was the moment the Institute decided it was either them, or me”.</p><p>            “It’s <em>not</em> going to be you,” Maxson said darkly. He turned his attention to the waiting scribe. “Knight-Sergeant Mulyer hasn’t eaten in two days. Get something from the mess. Anything you can grab; I know it’s late”. As the scribe left, Elder Maxson proceeded to open the aspirin bottle. Once he’d had a chance to take some medicine and a drink, he focused his attention on Cade.</p><p>            “I’m staying here tonight”.</p><p>            “Elder, that seems unnecessary…”</p><p>            “Seeking medical attention at the infirmary for a severe headache that’s lasted more than forty-eight hours is unnecessary, Knight-Captain?”</p><p>            “Considering that you’ve suffered no recent head injuries, have no other medical history, and I can confirm you’re under an unhealthy amount of stress, twenty-four hours of medical leave is warranted. You have your own private quarters to recuperate in. I need the other beds for medical emergencies and post-surgical patients <em>like her</em>”.</p><p>            “I’m sure some of that stress is because you’re Elder,” Nora added, “but at least some of that stress is because of <em>me</em>. Maxson, look. I’m awake. Cade is <em>obviously</em> taking good care of me, right? You can <em>relax</em>”.</p><p>            “That’s not—”</p><p>            “Re. Lax,” she scolded him. He was reminding her of Nate after she’d given birth to Shaun, stressing out and hovering to an almost unhealthy degree. She thought back for a moment as to how she’d finally gotten Nate to take a break before smirking at Maxson, much to Cade’s surprise.</p><p>            “Besides!” She added, “if you’re here stressing yourself out over me, that’s just going to make <em>me</em> worry”. Her eyes glanced to Cade, who quickly picked up on what she was doing.</p><p>            “Right,” Cade nodded. “And with all that extra stress, she’ll just be stuck here longer…”</p><p>            “<em>Alright.</em> I get it,” Maxson mumbled. “Mulyer, you’re <em>sure</em> you’re alright?”</p><p>            “I’m awake again and we’re having a conversation. Cade’s the doctor here, but I’m pretty sure that means I’m not biting the dust tonight”.</p><p>            “See that it <em>stays</em> that way,” Maxson grumbled before leaving. The returning medical scribe returned not long after with a whole platter of boxed foods and drinks.</p><p>            “Wasn’t sure what you wanted, so I just grabbed everything I could carry”.</p><p>            “I’ve never wanted Fancy Lads so badly before”.</p><p>            “You could use a boost to your blood glucose, Knight-Sergeant,” Cade smiled. “I’m leaving for the night. I’m sure Scribe Durham will be more than capable of keeping an eye on things here”.</p><p>#</p><p>            The morning of the 9<sup>th</sup> was tiring on account of all the visitors Nora had received. She’d been discharged from the infirmary on the condition of not leaving the residential areas of the Prdywen: “absolutely <em>no</em> work --- we can radio or fly Colonel Garvey here if the Minutemen need something”.</p><p> Every Proctor, several Knights and Paladins, even Danse; all of them had caught up with her at some point to see her. She’d spent an absurd amount of time in the mess hall due to all the questions. Word arrived that there was a promotion waiting for her, with the decision hanging in limbo due to waiting on other Elders to assent to the decision, given Maxson’s silence on the matter due to his known conflict of interest.</p><p>            “I’ve never seen someone rise to Knight-Captain so <em>quick</em>,” one Knight had told her.</p><p>            “Honestly, I’m surprised the High-Elder didn’t make you a Paladin”.</p><p>            “Wait, didn’t Maxson promote you to Knight-Sergeant? I thought you were getting married then too…”</p><p>            “When you were a Knight-Sergeant, I don’t think the conflict of interest was as obvious. Your mutual situation was political then. In those days when the Brotherhood  Now he’s got <em>personal</em> bias in the matter”.</p><p>            “True. Bit harder to justify that promotion when you’re <em>involved</em>, though…bit hard for the other Elders to deny it considering you salvaged <em>three</em> separate battles almost single-handedly in one day”.</p><p>            “It doesn’t matter, right?” Nora said. “I lose the rank as soon as I marry him”.</p><p>            “Doesn’t matter? You should appreciate being honored for your valor while you still can be, Knight-Captain. Once you’re officially Lady Maxson, you <em>stay</em> Lady Maxson”.</p><p>            “Oh, that’s actually good. It sounds simpler than Knight-Captain Lady General,” Nora joked, causing the crowd of soldiers to burst out laughing. Once they’d finally dispersed, she took a moment to try and find some isolation on the ship that <em>didn’t</em> involve being stuck lying in bed. Maxson was nowhere to be found, apparently being booked in all day meetings with the leadership of the Prydwen. At one point, he’d been seen taking a quick run to Teagan’s office, but that was the most that all but the top brass had seen of him.</p><p>            <em>I hope he’s going to be okay</em>, she wandered towards the back section of the barracks to get a change of scenery. A group of squires were playing together on their recreational time. One of them had left a comic book on the table. Nora thumbed through it, laughing slightly at a short story of a man and his dog travelling through the pre-War wilderness. After a few moments, she felt a tug on the sleeve of her fatigues. A female squire was staring up at her.</p><p>            “Ma’am?”</p><p>            “Yes squire?” Nora eyed the lapel of her uniform to see the name ‘Randolf’. <em>Even the children were militarized</em>. Suddenly she remembered any future children she had would one day be subjected to the same militarization. She imagined a little boy or girl with features crossed between Arthur and her, playing in a squire uniform with the name <em>Maxson</em> sewn unto their shirts.</p><p>            “I…uh,” the squire said shyly. “…I heard Knight Swanson say you exterminated a lot of synths!”</p><p>            “Something to that effect…” Nora mused. ‘<em>Exterminated’</em>. <em>Big word for such a small girl</em>.</p><p>            “Really?! It’s true?!”</p><p>            “Well. I had help”.</p><p>            “But you did a lot of it, right? With the artery? There were so <em>many</em> of them at the airport. Proctor Quinlan said we’d have scrap for weeks!”</p><p>            “Artery? Oh! <em>Artillery!</em>” The squire smiled at Nora’s response and said “yeah! That! Tell us about it! Pretty please?” The rest of the squires were looking over at Nora curiously. Having nothing better to do and not wanting to say no, Nora allowed the squire to usher her over to a chair closer to the squire’s recreational area. Before long she was answering questions for a gaggle of children as to what artillery was, how it worked, why the Minutemen had it (to which Nora merely postulated that wasn’t like the Brotherhood couldn’t easily acquire it). Underneath the military upbringing, the squires reminded her that they were just <em>children</em>. She wondered how many among the Brotherhood’s adult ranks had started out as wide-eyed children like these.</p><p>            “Knight-Captain Mulyer…” one of the boys said innocently, “…is it true you have a son? I heard someone talking about him”. Her mind flashed to two versions of Shaun: the synth boy she’d chased after, and the bitter old man the real version had grown up to be. Part of her brain reminded her that Maxson had told her to keep silent on the truth about Shaun: to the rest of the world, he was a ten-year-old boy, soon to be painted as an unfortunate casualty of war.</p><p>            None of these children knew his fate yet.</p><p>            “…yes,” she said softly. “From before the Brotherhood”.</p><p>            “I knew it! See!” The boy told his peers. One of the other boys, a bit older and quieter, elaborated for Nora: “…we heard about him and asked Knight-Sergeant Erickson. Uh, Knight-Sergeant Erickson’s one of the ones that takes care of us. He said we’d just have to wait until the war was over and you got him back”.</p><p>            “When you get your son back, do you think he can play with us?” Another female scribe asked. Nora found herself taken aback by the question. These children had no idea they’d never see Shaun.</p><p>            “I…uh. If he’s up to it”.</p><p>            “We’ll be extra nice to him! We even put some toys away for him! After the war, he might be one of us, so…”</p><p>            “That’s very <em>sweet </em>of you. Really, children. It is. The end of the war’s probably a ways  off though”.</p><p>            “No it’s not! The Proctors said they’re working on the attack soon! I…uh…” the girl whimpered. “I heard Elder Maxson shouting about it when I went to deliver food”.</p><p>            “He sounded <em>angry</em>,” another boy said. “Something about the Castle. The Minutemen have a General, right? I guess a synth got him and Maxson was <em>really</em> mad about it”.</p><p>            “Children, I’m standing right here”. They looked at her in confusion. Nora found her jaw dropping before adding, “It’s <em>me</em>. <em>I’m </em>the General of the Minutemen”.</p><p>            “But I thought you were La— I mean. Um…actually, I’m not sure”.</p><p>            “Lady Maxson?” Nora finished the squire’s sentence. Most of the other children nodded sheepishly. One made Nora laugh by mentioning “…but your last name isn’t Maxson!”</p><p>            “But you’re a <em>soldier</em>,” the same squire asked. “The Minutemen are civilians!”</p><p>            “Soldiers and civilians work together, though. You kids like all the sweet rolls and food that come up to the Prydwen from the Commonwealth, right? Soldiers don’t have time to grow that food, children, and civilians don’t have time to go fighting wars. It’s not all black and white --- everyone has a job, and everyone does that job”.</p><p>            “Just like the Scribes or the Knights?”          </p><p>            “Psh…being a Knight’s better! Isn’t that right, <em>Knight-Captain</em>?”</p><p>            “If things were different and I had my boy with me, he’d probably grow up to be a scribe”. Before she could elaborate further, she saw a female Knight-Sergeant heading towards the gaggle of children.</p><p>            “Squires! Stop bothering the Knight-Captain. Rec time ends in ten minutes anyway”.</p><p>            “Awww!”</p><p>            “Kids, <em>go on</em>,” Nora advised them, before adding, “they weren’t bothering me, Sergeant. Don’t worry”.</p><p>            “Oh, very well ma’am. Sorry, I just figured you might not want to be disturbed by them since…y’know…”</p><p>            “On the contrary, I think I needed that,” Nora laughed.</p><p>            “Oh! Well in <em>that</em> case, I guess we could sign you up for squire detail!” Once the two women had finished laughing about the idea, Nora took the opportunity to start walking over to Quinlan’s office to find something to read. When she passed by the Quartermastery, Proctor Teagan stopped her.</p><p>            “Psst…Knight-Captain?” Nora glanced over at the nervous Proctor before moving closer.</p><p>            “Yes?”</p><p>            “Meetings are done for the day. Think you could talk some sense into Maxson? He seems…<em>irate</em>”.</p><p>            “I heard…” Nora muttered. “I’ll go talk to him”.</p><p>#</p><p>            She reminded herself that he had been raised by a society where everything was black and white. As Danse had once spouted to her, there was Brotherhood, and there was everything else. Nothing in-between. Maxson’s original proposition to Nora had been aligned with this line of thinking: the Minutemen were either Brotherhood auxiliaries or nothing at all. The Institute, by challenging the Brotherhood, were worse than nothing. At least <em>nothing</em> could be ignored or pushed to the side.</p><p>            Two knocks to the door, followed by her voice: “Elder?”    </p><p>            “I’m busy”.</p><p>            “I just want to talk”. She could hear the sound of footsteps walking swiftly to the door. Maxson looked down at Nora in annoyance. “It had better be— oh. It’s you”.</p><p>            “If you’re busy, I can come back”.</p><p>            “I could be busier where you’re involved. Come in”. His facial expression softened a bit as he gestured for her to come inside.</p><p>            “Wait,” he asked passively. “Didn’t I give you a key?”</p><p>            “I don’t think that lets me just barge in…besides, decorum and all that, remember?”</p><p>            “I’m embarrassed to say that decorum has gone out the window at this point,” Maxson muttered, going to his work terminal. “You can stay, Knight-Captain. I’m not trying to be rude, I just have <em>piles</em> of reports to submit”.</p><p>            “Long day?”</p><p>            “We’re speeding up the time-table on Liberty Prime. Ever heard of it?”</p><p>            “No, I can’t say that I have”.</p><p>            “It was a combat robot that was meant to be deployed during the Battle of Anchorage. Your husband fought in that battle, correct? Danse was mentioning something about it”.</p><p>            “Seems like an odd thing for him to bring up in the middle of a war meeting”.</p><p>            “It wasn’t during the war meetings. It was while you were out cold, recovering from surgery. Before you bolted into Cambridge Police Station for your daring rescue, a squad from there had cleared out a super mutant hive nearby. Turns out it was a veteran’s hall. Some of the reports they pulled off of that terminal,” Maxson interrupted his own sentence with a slight laugh, “…seems he was quite the man”.</p><p>            “Anyway, they went to Fraternal Post 115 and cleared out those green abominations admirably. Unfortunately, super mutants left the building virtually unrecognizable. We did find a few interesting things for the Brotherhood archives about Old-World military operations. For example, on the topic of Anchorage, the U.S Military’s original plan was to deploy Liberty Prime. Because Prime’s combat subroutines weren’t operational and his power supply was unstable, they had to scrap that plan. Ultimately, as I’m sure a wife of an Anchorage veteran has probably heard, the battle was won by deploying ground forces with T-51b power armor”.</p><p>            “At the time, T-51b armor was revolutionary. It was such a success that the military ultimately chose to develop power armor further rather than invest in robotic initiatives like Prime during the Sino-American War. Then, many years ago, the Brotherhood fought a war with the Enclave in the Capital Wasteland, and we discovered Prime. Because of Liberty Prime, we won that war, but Prime was destroyed in the process. We’re planning on rebuilding him to use in the fight against the Institute”.</p><p>            “From scrap? Sounds …<em>daunting</em>”.</p><p>            “We’re <em>almost done</em>,” Maxson continued. “The battle against the Enclave was ten years ago. I was just a squire myself when that happened. After Prime’s destruction at the hands of the Enclave, Head Scribe Rothchild --- pardon me, <em>Elder</em> Rothchild now --- immediately started work on rebuilding him. A few components weren’t available. Doctor Li actually worked on Prime back in the Capital Wasteland the first time around; it’s one of the reasons I asked you to recruit her”.</p><p>            “A giant robot…wait, is <em>that</em> what the gantry is for on the tarmac?” Nora asked.</p><p>            “You didn’t notice? Granted, a lot has happened with you. I suppose you had no reason to be concerned with that, and it was a classified project. We’ve managed to completely restore Prime’s CPU and his frame, but he needs power and he needs weaponry. To that end, we’ve made the decision to send Brotherhood forces to acquire the necessary forces. As we speak, there are Brotherhood forces being deployed to the Mass Fusion building to acquire a Beryllium Agitator. It’s a nuclear reactor component that we can re-purpose to Prime’s power grid. Once we have that, we’re going to turn our attention to acquiring his payload, and then I’m kicking down the damn door on the Institute and settling this nonsense once and for all”.</p><p>            “I’ve never seen you take this so <em>personally</em> before…”</p><p>            “I have <em>plenty</em> of reasons to take this personally, Nora. True, it started out as a campaign to continue the Brotherhood’s duty of protecting the world from technology gone amok. The Institute haven’t done anything to justify their existence with their FEV research and their senseless kidnappings. I’m not just talking about your son there…”</p><p>            His voice grew colder. “…however, your son’s story was definitely a black mark on the Institute, all by itself. And that was <em>before</em> I knew the truth about Shaun. I had plenty of reasons to hate them before they made it personal, but then I lost good brothers and sisters in arms during their attacks on the Brotherhood. Just when I was already bitter, they made the <em>grave</em> mistake of turning their sights to you”.</p><p>            “Maxson…there are still <em>good</em> people in the Institute. They have families too. <em>Children</em>”.</p><p>            “And so did the people they hurt,” Maxson said without skipping a beat. “Don’t be mistaken: I’m not saying, ‘kill them all and let God sort them out’. Still my sympathies for any inconveniences they may have in the wake of this war, after everything they’ve done, have <em>long</em> run dry for the Institute”. He stopped typing before turning to Nora to change the subject.</p><p>            “I’m in a bad mood. We’ll discuss the Institute later. See that box on the table?”</p><p>            “Yes?”</p><p>            “It’s for you”. Nora turned her attention to a small metal box that was one seat over from where she sat. Pulling it closer, she opened it up the box to find a set of old steel dog-tags.</p><p>            “You had new dog-tags made that fast?”</p><p>            “What?” Maxson said, returning to typing. “No, changing your holo-tags can wait”. He didn’t have to say anything more. Nora had already looked down to read what they said, realizing that they’d been found at Fraternal Post 115.</p><p>            MULYER, NATHANIEL J.</p><p>            548-00-7142</p><p>            O NEG / CATHOLIC</p><p>            “Am I correct to assume those belong to you?” Maxson asked, without turning to look at her. Nora said nothing, staring at them in shock.</p><p>            “They always belong with their next of kin. I keep my parents’ tags in my footlocker. Couldn’t imagine anyone else having them…”</p><p>            “Anyone else’s?” Nora asked softly. Maxson spent a full minute typing before turning back towards her and shaking his head.</p><p>            “No, though a couple of nights ago I was scared I’d be adding yours to that collection”.</p><p>            She smiled at him. “Guess there’s no one else who has a claim to them anymore”.</p><p>            “We’re not married yet. Technically I don’t have a claim to them”.</p><p>            “And yet I get the strange feeling I’d be afraid for is someone who tried to stop you from collecting them if something happened to me. Decorum be damned”.</p><p>            “No,” he said sourly, rising from his chair. “If something happened to you, I’d be afraid for whatever caused it”. Abandoning a half-finished report, he got up from his chair to approach her.</p><p>            “Um…there’s several chairs, Elder. Care to sit?” He said nothing, remaining on his feet, towering over her. For a moment, there was the <em>slightest</em> hesitation in his movements before he reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a small, shiny object.</p><p>            “What’s…<em>that</em>?”</p><p>            “A ring,” he scoffed. “What else would it be?” He held out the silver colored object in his hand, waiting for Nora to take it from his outstretched hand. To his dismay, she didn’t reach for it.</p><p>            “Is something wrong with it?” He eyed the golden band on her right arm. “…wrong color?”</p><p>            “The <em>color</em> isn’t the problem”.</p><p>            “Then?”</p><p>            “You’re stuck with me if I take that. You <em>realize</em> that, right Arthur?”<br/>            “Believe me, I realize it”.</p><p>            “Stuck with me and all the stress I bring with me,” she warned him.</p><p>            “And yet here I stand,” Maxson said sternly. To his relief, he saw Nora smile at him before rising from the chair to come closer. Very gently, she took the ring from him and slid it on her left hand, gold and silver on each of her fingers.</p><p>            “And yet…here you stand. Wait…this looks expensive. Oh god, how much did this cost you?”</p><p>            “It’s steel, and not as much as you’d think” Maxson said, momentarily blushing. “Very traditional for Brotherhood women, though Proctor Teagan suggested in your case that I should…”</p><p>            “Teagan?!” Nora realized. “Wait! Did you two set me up to come here?”</p><p>            “No…” Maxson said, visibly confused. “I figured you’d be spending the day recuperating”.</p><p>            “Oh”. Nora mumbled. “Wouldn’t put it past you”.</p><p>            “Am I <em>that</em> suspect, Nora?”</p><p>            “No. It must be the pain meds. I’d better go back to my bunk and lay down”. Before moving to leave the room for the night, she pulled him close and gave him a genuinely heartfelt kiss on the cheek. For one blissful moment, neither of them felt any worries at all.</p><p>            “Your bunk is in this room now. I’ll send for your things,” Arthur smirked at her. “Relax. I won’t do anything <em>untoward</em>. I have three more reports to finish and <em>you</em> still have stitches healing”.</p><p>            “Get <em>some</em> rest, huh Arthur?”</p><p>            “I’ll try. You first”.</p><p>            Riding the pleasant emotions of the most recent turn of events, Nora walked over to the cot and laid down, closing her eyes and settling in to take a nap. She heard Maxson stop typing again and turn to her casually, posing a question. “You need to head back to the Castle once you’re better, don’t you? I imagine the Commonwealth Minutemen have a lot of work to do in the wake of our ongoing Institute problem”.</p><p>            “Let me guess, once Cade clears me to head back down there, let you know so you can see me off?”</p><p>            “No. This time we go together. You got that injury because of a synth infiltrator. I’m not going to let that happen again, even if it means I have to turn the whole <em>Castle</em> inside out”.</p><p>            <em>The Railroad, </em>Nora panicked silently, facing away from him<em>. Why do I already know this isn’t going to end well?</em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Kinda a boring chapter, but it's more to lay the groundwork for events to come...</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0044"><h2>44. A Cup Full Of Bitterness</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 44: In which Nora deals with bitterness and sweetness from Maxson.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I've been VERY busy. Writing has not been a priority for me recently. Sorry for the delay.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>A CUP FULL OF BITTERNESS</h1><p>
  <em>“There’s someone here who laughs too hard at everything…” – Miike Snow “Paddling Out”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            He’d meant well when he said that he’d turn the Castle upside-down for her sake. Lying in bed, pretending to be asleep, she considered all of the events which had brought her to this point. This entire ordeal had started out as a political marriage, after all. Arthur agreed to be considerate to the people of the Commonwealth on his conquest and aid the Minutemen with his own forces where they were most desperate. Nora kept the general populace happy enough not to bother the Brotherhood, and would someday give Arthur an heir. It had been so <em>simple</em> then.</p><p>            Her biggest mistake was dismissing the idea of him becoming so infatuated with her. While he’d always been amicable towards her, he was usually so detached and level-headed. Somewhere along the way, he’d took it upon himself to shoulder the burdens she’d been put through, and now they were days away from the potential genocide that would surely happen if Arthur caught even one whiff of the Railroad hiding in the Castle’s basement. All of this was to say nothing of if he’d found out <em>she</em> had allowed them to hide there in the first place. Her greatest fear was what would happen if he found out about Danse.</p><p>            After the incident with Doctor Beltier, there was no possibility in which Arthur wouldn’t see Danse as a threat if he were to find out the truth. The distinction between infiltrators and escaped synths was irrelevant: as far as the Brotherhood were concerned, they were one and the same. It didn’t matter that Danse had no idea he was a synth, or that he’d spent decades in service of the Brotherhood. All Arthur would see, if the truth came out, was one more Institute robot out to kill her. This one had Brotherhood training and equipment. Worse still, this one had intimate knowledge of how the Brotherhood operated. Subconsciously, Nora’s hand gently touched the still-healing puncture wound on her right side; most of her stitches were internal. The outside of the wound had been burned shut by Doctor Carrington in his last-ditch attempt to keep her going until she’d gotten to Cade for surgery. It was one more ugly scar; one more bad memory of the Institute dug into her brain and one more drop in a cup full of bitterness for Arthur to swallow. Underneath flashes of lust and love, she <em>knew </em>how he looked at the burn on her face. She could only wonder how long he’d sat in the infirmary or in his own quarters, kicking himself over the newest set of scars, despite the fact that not a single one was from him.</p><p>            She still hadn’t found peaceful sleep when Arthur finally finished typing reports, god-only-knew how much later into the night. There was the sound of his flight suit unzipping and some rummaging sounds as he found a set of loose fatigues to slip into. For her sake, he decided not to strip down in his own bed. That didn’t seem like much of a gesture until she felt him lay down on the other side of the mattress --- apparently, the Elder was a warm sleeper. He seemed hesitant to curl up to her at first despite their newfound officiality. It took several minutes before he carefully put on arm around her shoulder, avoiding her waist altogether on account of her injury.</p><p>            “Arthur…” she whispered.</p><p>            “Sorry. I woke you”.</p><p>            “I wasn’t really all that asleep”.</p><p>            “The typing?”</p><p>            “No, just a lot on my mind…”</p><p>            “I can sympathize”. She felt one soft chuckle leave her throat as her hand went up to meet his.</p><p>            “You’re quite <em>warm</em> though, Arthur”.</p><p>            “Ugh. Yes. Sorry. Decorum, remember?”.</p><p>            “Get comfortable. It’s fine”. There was a moment’s pause and some soft movement as Arthur rose up to a sitting position, removed his shirt, and laid back down, maintaining a slight distance from Nora. She stayed silent, still contemplating how she was going to extricate herself from the situation about to occur at the Castle. It was safe to say that she had at least two more days before Knight-Captain Cade cleared her to leave the Prydwen again. In that time, she’d normally radio Preston, but Brotherhood monitoring of outgoing transmissions would make communicating such a sensitive message difficult. How could she possibly phrase it to get the point across without arousing suspicion?</p><p>            <em>Preston, make sure you put the packages away? </em>Too vague. She couldn’t take any chances on this; if he didn’t understand her meaning the first time, it would already be too late.</p><p>            <em>Preston, Elder Maxson’s coming. </em>A bit more acceptable, but what if someone took that as a sign that she really was hiding something? There were Brotherhood forces at the Castle too. So far, they’d been none-the-wiser to their unwanted housemates. Even at its most innocent, however, that message could attack unwanted attention. Her mind flashed to Deacon; maybe getting the message to <em>him</em> would be safer. Then again, some would question why she’d call on Deacon and not Preston…</p><p>            <em>Am I overthinking this? I’m definitely overthinking this</em>.</p><p>            “Is this alright? You haven’t said anything”.</p><p>            “What? Oh, yes. That’s fine. You’re a bit far away…” her last sentence had been unintentional. Compared to Nate, who’d always moved in so close to her, Maxson seemed a bit standoffish.</p><p>            “I’ve never done this before”.</p><p>            “Done what?”</p><p>            “Been this close to a person without reason”</p><p>            “In general or…”</p><p>            “Yes”.</p><p>            “You can come closer. Just go easy on my ribs, huh?” There was no response. After a moment’s hesitation, she felt Arthur roll closer and put his hand across Nora’s shoulders. She found herself inching into him, feeling Arthur’s beard move against her neck as he made a small sound in surprise. It almost made her laugh before she remembered that Arthur was still so young. In this world, he was a man, but in the time she’d come from he was not much better than a teenager. She pictured him as a military brat from a distinguished family, going to some military academy for college-age men back when that kind of thing still existed.</p><p>            “This is strange…” he muttered, breaking her concentration.</p><p>            “It was a bit strange my first time too,” she smirked, trying to reassure him.</p><p>            “How’d you get used to it?”</p><p>            “I just closed my eyes and let myself enjoy it”. Taking her advice to heart, she could feel the Elder relax his muscles and loosen his awkward grip. To her surprise, she heard a light snore a few moments later. <em>I hope he’s still easy to convince a couple of days from now</em>. Another surprise: she heard Nate’s voice again.</p><p>            <em>Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that</em>.</p><p>#</p><p>            At Nora Mulyer’s…Nora Maxson’s? At <em>her</em> insistence and with Elder Maxson’s permission, Danse prepared to head to the Castle one day ahead of schedule. Work needed to be done to review Brotherhood losses after the latest attack, and Nora had asked Danse to personally ensure that Preston needed no extra help with the clean-up operations. Elder Maxson’s quick thinking in broadcasting Courser recall codes had put a quick end to the Institute’s would-be trump card in the battle. It had been Danse that had trained the newest recruits to a passable combat standard, and Danse who had suspected <em>something </em>was off about the supposed doctor who betrayed the Castle moments before the attack begin.</p><p>            <em>No wasteland doctor is that skilled, that experienced, that old, and still looking for a place to settle. I knew he had something to hide</em>. Danse had only wished he’d realized something was strange sooner. The Star-Paladin secretly found several inhabitants of the Castle to be suspicious. The opportunity to travel to the Castle ahead of Nora meant that any <em>other </em>threats could be investigated freely. Better to go earlier, while Nora was still recovering, while the Institute were engaged with cutting off the Brotherhood at Mass Fusion.</p><p>            Before his return to the Castle, he’d been called in for a briefing at a meeting room for the officers. It was good news: the Beryllium Agitator had been recovered. Proctor Quinlan’s scribes were working to determine a plan of action for acquiring weaponry for Liberty Prime while Proctor Ingram’s scribes were working to load the Agitator into Prime’s chassis. Rudimentary plans were being worked out on what would happen <em>after </em>Prime was ready to be deployed. For now, the briefing was more celebratory than anything else. Alcohol and cigarettes being allowed, within reason, was a rare sign of the changing tide. Maxson seemed particularly energized. When the briefing was complete, Danse was asked to stay behind by Maxson and Kells.</p><p>            They were <em>both</em> in a good mood, pouring glasses of Maxson’s favorite bourbon. Having stayed sober through the meeting, Danse decided to loosen up and enjoy a shot and a cigarette. After a bit of small-talk about the aftermath of the meeting, it was Kells who spoke first.</p><p>            “Congratulations, Arthur”. Danse smirked a bit at seeing Arthur Maxson smile softly before sipping his bourbon.</p><p>            “Yes. Congratulations. The lady’s not stopping by?” Danse asked.</p><p>            “She’s still feeling a bit under the weather. Cade’s removing her stitches tomorrow so she’s been advised to take it easy tonight”.</p><p>            “Calling it an early night then?” Kells asked. “I know there’s a war going on, but you <em>should</em> take some time to unwind”.</p><p>            “I’ll have plenty of time to unwind when this is done, Captain. I’ll be stopping by the gantry after this to review Prime”.</p><p>            “Just don’t get <em>too </em>focused on work, especially in the early days of your marriage. Trust me, it’s important”.</p><p>            “This coming from Lancer-Captain Kells?” Danse asked in disbelief while Arthur suppressed a chuckle and finished what would be his last glass of bourbon for the night.</p><p>            “Neither of you are married…well, Arthur not <em>officially</em>. Trust me, get some time in with the woman now while you get a chance. After the end of the war, we’ll need to deal with expanding our influence in the Commonwealth. You’ll be busy with that, and your wife will be busy with <em>hopefully</em> three children”.</p><p>            “Three?” Arthur and Danse both raised their eyebrows and looked at each other, then back at Kells.</p><p>            “The boy, the Minutemen, and hopefully her next child”.</p><p>            “Seems a bit quick to be having more children,” Danse muttered.</p><p>            “You don’t have a centuries-old bloodline to continue, Danse, so you can <em>afford </em>to move slowly in a relationship. Although then again, you really <em>should</em> think about the next generation. With our latest developments, you’ve just become the most eligible bachelor in the East Coast Brotherhood. What’s stopping you? Afraid of women?”</p><p>            “Never really had enough time in my life for something like that. Guess you could also say the right woman never came along and asked”.</p><p>            “Never?” Arthur and Kells both laughed. “Not even once?”</p><p>            “A few were close, but…no”. He could feel the alcohol hitting him slightly as he accidentally blurted out, “…I actually thought about it once with the best of them but I don’t think they’ve ever done the same”.</p><p>            “Maybe we need to have you try harder,” Arthur mused.</p><p>            “You might be surprised, I’ve seen the way half the women on this ship look at you. Who exactly are you talking about?” Kells asked, making Danse blush slightly and look away.</p><p>            “Unimportant. I’ve long since lost interest…”</p><p>            “Haylen?” Kells asked. Arthur thought hard for a moment before realizing…</p><p>            “…Nora. Why didn’t you say anything?” Danse looked at Arthur and sighed, taking a puff of his cigarette and admitting to his secret.</p><p>            “Don’t worry, Elder. I’m not a jealous man. I was already talking myself out of it <em>before</em> that incident with the ice cabinet. She still loves her husband; I wasn’t sure I could move past that. It doesn’t seem to bother <em>you</em> though”.</p><p>            “Dead men pose no threat to me. Besides, if she’s done all she’s done for the Brotherhood because of that man and their child, he must have been a fascinating man”.</p><p>            “Not worried about the boy posing a threat to your own children’s opportunities?” Kells asked.</p><p>            “Don’t tell me you are”.</p><p>            “Me? No. Elder Rothchild…”</p><p>            “Pompous old man,” Arthur scoffed, asking Danse to pass his pack of cigarettes over.</p><p>            “Still, any <em>plans</em> involving the Mulyer boy?” Kells asked, before noticing Arthur take a long drag on his secret. Unbeknownst to the other men in the room, Arthur already knew Shaun was long beyond saving. He thought about informing them quietly of the truth before remembering that it had been <em>he</em> who ordered Nora to silence on the matter. There was no more time to think: his men were waiting on an answer.</p><p>            “He might need a bit of time with his mother. After he’s acclimated to the surface, I’ll see about convincing Nora to have him undergo squire training. Whether he chooses a life with the Brotherhood or not, the extra education will be good for him”.</p><p>            “What happens if he chooses the Brotherhood?” Kells asked.</p><p>            “Then he becomes an Initiate like everyone else, unless he genuinely shows great promise for a certain field”.</p><p>            “Like everyone else,” Danse said, defending Arthur’s decision. “Wise decision. The Brotherhood can’t afford to make exceptions on a whim but we shouldn’t deny him the same opportunities as anyone else. He’s still a soldier’s child, it’s only fair he be offered a place here. With all due respect, Elder Rothchild’s just going to have to learn to oblige”.</p><p>            “He’s Lady Maxson’s child. Elder Rothchild will have to learn to show <em>respect</em>,” Kells mused. “Even Elders aren’t exempt from basic decorum”.</p><p>            “Enough about that,” Arthur muttered. “This situation isn’t something I want to talk about right now. Kells, didn’t we have a surprise for Danse?” The two senior officers smirked while Danse looked at them in confusion.</p><p>            “Surprise? For me”.</p><p>            “Yes, I <em>did</em> say something a couple months ago about a promotion, right? When you and Nora headed to the Glowing Sea for the first time?”</p><p>            “We think you’ve proven more than worthy of it after all these years, Danse”.</p><p>            “It is with great pleasure and the utmost respect that you are hereby granted the rank of Sentinel,” Arthur beamed at Danse. The latter’s jaw visibly dropped to the floor as Kells picked up where Arthur left off. “I’m sure you’re aware that I don’t award this position lightly. There hasn’t been a Sentinel serving under me since Sentinel Bergeron, may he rest in peace”</p><p>            “I’m honored sir,” Danse said, standing and saluting. The Elder and the Lancer-Captain rose to return the formality before everyone burst into laughter.</p><p>            “When this war is over, there’ll be so many things to celebrate,” Danse mused. “The downfall of the Institute, your wedding, and now my promotion? Makes me want to have Liberty Prime bust down the Institute’s door tonight”.</p><p>            “Until he gets his nukes, there won’t be much more he can do besides step on them,” Kells laughed. “We’ll have some detailed plans set up over the next few days. You’ll be expected to help us out…”</p><p>            “Wouldn’t have it any other way, Captain”.</p><p>            “I look forward to dealing with the Castle quickly so we can get to it,” Arthur said, moving to excuse himself for the night. “But I wanted to get your promotion done first, Danse. It was <em>well</em> deserved. Now, I’m going to get moving”.</p><p>            “Check in on your wife before you head down the Flight Deck,” Danse reminded Arthur. “All good things have good foundations, right? I don’t need to be married to know your marriage is one of them”.</p><p>#</p><p>            He didn’t consider himself a vain man, but even he had to admit that the Sentinel paint job looked good on his power armor. On him. Returning to the Castle without Nora, his first order of business was to meet back up with the Brotherhood forces and get a status report on the Brotherhood’s operations at the Castle since then. With leadership deciding to make the Brotherhood’s presence at the Castle a semi-permanent affair, a Paladin was on base at all times. The most recent addition was Paladin Marzov, a man whom Danse had known since he’d first joined up with Cutler.</p><p>            “It’s <em>Sentinel</em> now, is it?” Marzov laughed at him, giving Danse the salute he was due before proceeding to properly congratulate the man. Marzov had never been quite as close to Danse as Cutler had been, but they still had a few good memories together. The earliest was from before the Brotherhood, when Cutler and Marzov had gotten into a brawl over some woman, and Danse had needed to intervene to stop the fight.</p><p>            “All those years of Brotherhood service, finally paying off. I can’t say I’m not pleased with the decision,” Danse smiled. His grin quickly faded. Marzov knew why.</p><p>            “Missing Cutler?”</p><p>            “All these years later and I’m still sentimental,” Danse muttered. “Cutler’d be ashamed of me”.</p><p>            “Well, quit your moping and maybe he won’t have anything to be ashamed of,” Marzov scolded Danse, before adding, “…you know he’d be proud, right? Christ, I remember when you were the <em>timid</em> one in our group”.</p><p>            “Maybe we can fraternize about the old times later tonight,” Danse said, changing the subject. “Pleasantries aside, we need to get down to business. I’ve read your reports on the Castle’s operations since the attack. Colonel Garvey’s done a fine job maintaining order”.</p><p>            “They just got a new shipment of laser muskets in. Nearly every Minuteman at the Castle carries a six-crank now. Hell, they’ve even set aside some of the salvage so we could touch up a few of the Brotherhood laser rifles. You ever seen what an overloaded fusion shot can do to a super mutant?”</p><p>            “I hear there’s more artillery popping up”.</p><p>            “That’s one of the things the Minutemen don’t really tell me about,” Marzov sighed. “I know they’re fortifying a few more settlements, but I’m not sure of the exact locations. I guess as long as they don’t shoot the Prydwen down, I’ll forgive it. I hear Mulyer did a damned fine job at the airport firing off those shots. Hell, I <em>saw</em> how fast the Minutemen had the shots put together”.</p><p>            “I’ll see if <em>I </em>can manage to work that information out of Preston Garvey,” Danse nodded, lowering his voice. “If not him, I can’t imagine the General wouldn’t know”.</p><p>            “What if neither of them want to tell us?”<br/>            “Mulyer will. Elder Maxson’s made things more official. I know Mulyer won’t shoot him down now that they’re formally engaged. Speaking of which, the soldiers are <em>aware</em> they’re coming?”</p><p>            “For Elder Maxson, even the Initiates won’t step one toe out of line. You and I both know that”.</p><p>            “You’ve been here more consistently than I have. What about the Minutemen soldiers? Surely you must deal with them too”.</p><p>            “A few of them are perceptive to the idea. We might even get an interested recruit out of it or two if we’re lucky”. Marzov’s eyes glanced over at Deacon, who Danse could see walking to the armory staircase. “I’m not sure <em>all </em>of the Minutemen are as interested”.</p><p>            Danse felt his jaw lock. He’d suspected that Deacon was up to <em>something</em> for a while now. The thought of Deacon being an Institute infiltrator didn’t quite match up, but Maxson’s purpose behind visiting the Castle had been to clear the base of any threat to the Brotherhood’s interests. <em>Any</em> threat. Plenty of strange ideas about Deacon did come to mind when Danse tried to pin down the mysterious agent’s true intentions. There was no doubt in his mind that Deacon had shady ties somewhere in the Commonwealth. Danse imagined secrets about the Minutemen being sold to opportunistic raider bosses or duplicitous Goodneighbor mobsters. No matter what it was that Deacon was hiding, Danse was determined to find it.</p><p>            “Notice anything…<em>peculiar</em> about him?”<br/>            “Besides the obvious? No. I’ve tried shadowing him but he always seems to know I’m coming. There’s a particular social circle he seems to frequent, though”.</p><p>            “I know about his friends that he brought with him to the Castle. Doctor Carrington, Simon, Tom, <em>Glory</em>…” Danse found himself with a distaste for the mercenary woman. Their spat during a training session hadn’t done much to improve his opinion of her, and he doubted she felt the same about him.</p><p>            “Simon’s gone. Left on a caravan off to Sanctuary, apparently”.</p><p>            “When?”</p><p>            “Yesterday. He was soon replaced by some older woman. I’ve only seen her once, walking down to the armory. After that, it’s like she disappeared into thin air. Neither Garvey nor Shaw seem to know what the hell I’m talking about. There was that sniper too, that showed up out of nowhere? Mac-something?”</p><p>            “Oh, <em>MacCready</em>,” Danse remembered. The former gunner had returned from his foray to the Capital Wasteland right as the attack on the Castle. “I know MacCready. Lot of things, but probably too honest to be keeping any secrets. I’m surprise he stuck around after the General’s pay ran out”.</p><p>            “Apparently he had a surprise for the General he wanted to get”.</p><p>            <em>I hope that’s not going to be an issue</em>, Danse thought to himself. “I’ll remember that, what about Tom, the Doctor, or Glory?”</p><p>            “I don’t see much of Tom. Occasionally around mealtimes, Tom talks weapons with the Minutemen…and <em>crazy</em>. He actually insisted on trying to give a Minuteman some kind of ‘cleansing’ shot that he mixed up before Carrington stopped him and mentioned there was <em>battery acid</em> in that concoction”.</p><p>            “Sounds suspicious”.</p><p>            “Honestly, I think he’s just nuts. People who have something to hide don’t usually draw attention to themselves like that. Speaking of which…neither the Doctor nor Glory spend a lot of time talking to the Brotherhood or the Minuteman, outside of my having to send a couple of men to the infirmary for a training accident a couple of days back. When they aren’t on business, they’re always stealing away to the Castle tunnels. Glory’s too difficult to shadow, but Carrington…I’ve noticed he always disappears around the storage racks”.</p><p>            “Downstairs?”</p><p>            “Yeah, not far from where they pulled that wrecked sentry-bot in parts before the Institute attacked, remember?”</p><p>            “I’ll make a note of that Marzov, thank you…”</p><p>#</p><p>            “Oh, there you are”.</p><p>            After spending the day inspecting various operations around the military base, Maxson had returned to his quarters to find them strangely empty. He’d almost worried that Nora had changed her mind about things, or found herself in trouble, before noticing a hastily written note on the kitchen table.</p><p>            <em>Got bored. Still not allowed to work. Went to help squires with homework. Hope that’s not a problem.  – N.</em> He found himself smiling at the note before placing it on a side table and heading to his terminal to get some work done. Knowing she was safe on the other end of the Prydwen would give him no excuse to not review the reports from Teagan and Quinlan. Better still, he quite liked the idea of Nora finding entertainment with the squires. After wave after wave of tragedy with Shaun, the poor woman deserved some measure of fleeting happiness. Her continued engagement with the children of the Brotherhood was a sign she’d maintained some measure of who she was even after that heavy loss. It brought hope to him that someday she’d heal (as much as one <em>could</em>) from her personal tragedies. It also gave him confidence that some day she’d be just as attentive with their own child. The thought of seeing her in their quarters with their own dark-haired child, fussing over homework, put a smirk on his face. Anything in him that doubted he was ready for this marriage disappeared.</p><p>            A message from Proctor Quinlan woke him from his daydream.</p><p>            <em>Institute holotape, not including archived files, completely decrypted. Lots of data within their active records. Something of note: exact volume of decrypted information was 495,741,152 Kilobytes of data. However, maintenance logs from Institute show that the mainframe should have had 497,581,427 Kilobytes of data.</em></p><p>
  <em>            I’m unsure where the remaining 1.8 Gigabytes of data went. Since it’s less than one percent of the mainframe, I’m guessing a few files got corrupted. I’d be interested in sending a few more holotapes to try and initiate another download of the mainframe for study if the opportunity should somehow present itself. Unsure if it’s worth the trouble, though…</em>
</p><p>“Hmm”. Maxson began typing up a response on his own terminal, debating the pros and cons of attempting a second attempt at the data. With his plans cementing for the final assault on the Institute, Maxson planned to ensure there would be no opportunity for a third attack. Teagan’s report affirmed that the necessary components were in place for a powerful bomb, meant to detonate the Institute reactor and render the entire facility a smoldering crater. He couldn’t wait to make the Institute regret assembling a nuclear reactor that could be turned against them so easily. His only regret was Nora’s affirmation that the voice bragging about the Institute’s reactor on Diamond City radio was none other than Shaun Mulyer’s.</p><p>            As he finished his second-to-last report, Nora entered the room carrying a basket with two bowls of Mirelurk bisque. He stopped what he was doing to greet her and settle in for dinner. Kells was right: taking some time to spend alone with her <em>was</em> necessary. He’d never been tantalized by the prospect of seafood soup before, watching her casually make conversation with him and sip from the bowl as if Michelangelo himself had painted her.</p><p>            “I hear Danse got a big promotion,” Nora mused when dinner was done. She was picking up the dishes to take them back to the mess to be cleaned. “He was gushing about it right before he left”.</p><p>            “It was well-deserved. Kells and I talked about it at length”.</p><p>            “I agree,” she smiled at him. “He’s a good man, Maxson. One of your best”.</p><p>            “I’ve relied on that man since I was <em>Paladin</em> Maxson,” Arthur chuckled, getting up from his seat at the table and moving to take the dishes from Nora.</p><p>            “Eld— Arthur. I can walk the dishes down to the mess hall. Cade took the stitches out today. I’m <em>fine</em>”.</p><p>            “I can call a squire to do it later. Stay”. Taking the dishes from her and setting them back down on the table, he grabbed one of Nora’s hands firmly, coaxing her away from the door.</p><p>            “Something wrong?” Her mind flashed to the Castle.</p><p>            “No. Kells and I talked about other things to. He’s been married a long time, you see. He knows far more about these kinds of things than I do. You were married before too, so you understand how <em>new </em>this is to me. I just wanted to clear the air, Nora. Are we alright?”</p><p>            “We’re fine,” Nora scoffed, a bit perplexed by the question. “You <em>worry</em> too much, you know that?”</p><p>            “You might have told me to stop ‘fussing’, as you’ve said”.</p><p>            “I don’t think you’re used to being <em>gentle</em>, Maxson. You’ve always been Elder Arthur Maxson of the Brotherhood --- or whatever rank it was before you made it to Elder. With everyone else you’re the big scary Elder of the Brotherhood of Steel. You try not to be that way with me, and I think you overcompensate by being too protective. Everything’s either annihilating enemies or defending objectives with you”.</p><p>            “Not to insult you, but I was also taught to protect what’s mine, and you’re <em>my</em> wife. It was the same in your time too, if I’m not mistaken. Hell, I felt very protected when artillery started raining down on my enemies because of a certain someone”.</p><p>            “See, there’s the problem!” Nora laughed. “Even when you’re enamored with something, it all goes back to <em>war</em> with you”.</p><p>            “What else is there?” Maxson scoffed, before a slight smirk came to his face. Nora cocked an eyebrow at him before responding.</p><p>            “I dunno how to <em>describe</em> that, Arthur. Living, I guess? Enjoying your life? Your friends? Us? That same humanity you say the Brotherhood wants to protect…how can you really understand it if you never experience it yourself?”</p><p>            “I suppose you’re right…” Arthur mused, pulling Nora closer to him. Suddenly she felt the distance between the pair of them and the nearest wall close. She could feel a dent in that spot by the door where Maxson had apparently slammed his fist into the wall recently when confronted with bad news. He was warm when he was awake too, holding her close to him and running one hand up and down her face.</p><p>            She found herself <em>liking </em>it.</p><p>            “Show me what you mean,” he said to her, half-commanding, half-asking. She felt his lips press against hers softly.</p><p>“If you…mmm…promise you’ll honestly consider it”. He nodded in response. A moment later, she was curling her fingers into his hair, obliging him.</p><p>#</p><p>            Danse had come to enjoy the prospect of kicking the door down. A complication with this hobby was that this time, he wasn’t exactly sure where the proverbial door was. Stealth was more Deacon’s forte, but one of Danse’s best kept secrets was that he’d learned to be a bit discrete in Rivet City, courtesy of the late Cutler. When everyone had gone to bed for the night, Danse left his power armor behind and quietly crept around the courtyard to ensure that he wasn’t being watched. There were a few Minutemen on patrol, but none of them seemed to pay any attention to Danse as he carefully scoped out the armory’s perimeter. When Danse was sure that Deacon and his cohorts weren’t on guard, he slipped down the armory staircase and carefully worked his way down the Minutemen tunnels to the storage room that Marzov had specified.</p><p>            At one corner, he stopped. Tom, the resident lunatic of the group, was mumbling to himself about improving surveillance around the Castle.</p><p>            “Gotta improve MILA. Can’t be caught unprepared again by the Institute like that…”</p><p>            <em>Well, at least I know he’s not a synth infiltrator. The hell’s a MILA?</em></p><p>            “How do I hide MILA’s in here? Camera sure would be useful by all the entrances…”</p><p>            <em>Entrances</em>?</p><p>            “Fuck…I’m tired… gotta sleep on it, Tom”. Danse noticed Tom looking around to make sure that he wasn’t followed, narrowly ducking behind a wall before Tom noticed that Danse had been hiding there.</p><p>            <em>Guess he’s going back to bed</em>, Danse thought to himself, before hearing something <em>click</em> and the sound of a sliding door opening up. He peeked from behind the wall to see part of the wall give way. Tom could be seen walking inside, and the secret door shut behind him.</p><p>            <em>Creator above, I knew they were hiding something from us.</em> Ensuring that no one else was around, Danse crept up to where Tom had been standing and searched carefully for a trigger of some kind.</p><p>            <em>He was standing about here when I heard the click.</em></p><p><em>            I can’t feel anything on the wall. Wait? What’s this wire?</em> His fingers gently traced a barely perceptible cable trailing from the floor of the Castle. It led back to one of the storage shelves in the room. Moving boxes around to look for a concealed switch, Danse noticed that a box towards the back of the shelves wouldn’t move. He tried tugging on it several ways, at first thinking that it was heavy, before noticing the box only slid when it was being moved counter-clockwise. After he’d turned the box enough, a satisfying click greeted him, and he saw the sliding door open. Seizing the opportunity, he darted through the door. Once it shut, he was greeted to the sudden rush of flood lights. Deacon and Carrington were facing him, holding pistols to his head. Danse’s hand instinctively went to his own rifle before he suddenly felt cold steel being put to his back.</p><p>            “One more move and I’ll fill your guts full of 5mm rounds,” Glory warned him. “I don’t care if I’m killing one of my own”.</p><p>            <em>My</em>?</p><p>            Deacon was shaking his head. “Danse, pal…what if I told you there was a good explanation for all of this?”</p><p>            “Start talking,” Danse glared.</p><p>            “It’s ironic,” Carrington said sadly. “All the good work we do, and one of our own rescues might be what finally does us in”.</p><p>            “Rescues?” Danse scoffed. “I don’t remember being rescued by the likes of you. Now, you have one minute to explain to me just what the hell is going on here”.</p><p>            “Of course you don’t remember. No one ever does,” Glory scoffed. “That’s why I never took the mind-wipe”.</p><p>            “You’re not making any sense, and my patience is running very thin, Glory. Your minigun needs time to spin up, and I’m faster than you think”.</p><p>            “Try me”.</p><p>            “Wait!” Deacon dropped his gun.</p><p>            “Deacon?” Carrington asked.</p><p>            “Nora wouldn’t want us gunning each other down like this. Maybe we just tell him the truth?”</p><p>            “He’s <em>Brotherhood</em>,” Glory scowled. “We’re <em>Railroad</em>. Natural-born enemies, I’d say”.</p><p>            “I <em>knew</em> something was off about you people,” Danse growled. “…when Maxson gets here, there’s going to be hell to pay”.</p><p>            “Your ‘tell the truth’ idea isn’t helping, Deacon,” Carrington muttered.</p><p>            “Not <em>that</em> truth. The <em>other</em> truth”.</p><p>            “What other truth?” Danse demanded. “Out with it!”</p><p>            “I’ll tell him,” Carrington said, keeping his sights steady on Danse’s head. “I’m a doctor. I’m used to giving bad news…”</p><p>            “Oh boy…” Deacon gulped.</p><p>            “Paladin Danse? Of the Brotherhood of Steel?”</p><p>            “It’s <em>Sentinel</em> now, but I’m listening…”</p><p>            “The synths your order has sworn to destroy, Sentinel? You’re one of them”.</p><p>            “Bullshit!”</p><p>            “We have proof…”</p><p>            “Like hell you do! I’m not swallowing any garbage you people concocted!” His voice was full of bitterness. Disbelief. Denial.</p><p>            “It’s not proof from us, Danse. We got it from <em>Nora</em>,” Deacon explained. “Same time she pulled that holotape for the Brotherhood, she collected some more <em>sensitive</em> information about runaway synths like yourself that don’t remember who they are. The Railroad protects synths from the Brotherhood, and I know you’re not going to like this, but one of the reasons she invited us to roost here? Synth unit M7-97. You already know him, Danse. I’m talking about <em>you</em>”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0045"><h2>45. The Measure Of A Man</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 45: In which Nora and Maxson face off against each other.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>THE MEASURE OF A MAN</h1><p>
  <em>“Do you see it clearer/or are you deceived/in what you believe?/Cause I’m only human after all/you’re only human after all” – Rag’n’Bone Man “Human”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            Danse wondered Nora if she knew that she talked in her sleep. He hadn’t <em>meant</em> to find this out: it was a surprise observation that he’d made while he was chained to her via intravenous tubes after the attack of the Castle. While his blood was being funneled into her veins, he’d watched her raggedly whimper and cling to life. It didn’t bother him when she called out for Nate and Arthur. As he’d told Maxson before being promoted, he’d never been a jealous man. Hearing Nora call out for <em>Shaun</em> hurt worse than anything else, because the boy’s fate was still an unknown. Getting to know her so closely like that, he’d never imagined she’d be keeping such a dark secret from the Brotherhood. From Maxson. From <em>him</em>.</p><p>            It had taken Deacon a while to fully explain the truth about Nora’s trip to the Institute. When she’d retrieved the network scanner holotape, she’d removed information pertaining to escaped synths. One of the reasons she’d chosen to exclude that information was because she’d found out about him. Being forced to listen to the story of one of Nora’s greatest secrets with Glory’s minigun pressed to his lower spine had been difficult enough, but <em>seeing</em> his own face on the terminal from years ago --- <em>that</em> had sent him over the edge. None of the Railroad’s members knew anything of his past before his memories began. All they’d known, from Railroad archives, was that he’d left the Commonwealth from a Railroad outpost that no longer existed, long before any of the current leaders of the Railroad had come to join the organization. He couldn’t anything from before he’d found Rivet City. Looking back on those memories, he wondered how much of that, too, had been real.</p><p>            <em>How much of my soul is just a fabricated story?</em></p><p>            There were more recent developments he could not remember clearly. The exact moment he’d dropped his weapon and crumpled to the floor eluded him. At some point, Glory’s minigun removed itself from his solar plexus. He could hear the voices around him say various things regarding his situation, and he was unsure which of these voices were from the Railroad, and which were just the cacophony of his own mind processing that information.</p><p>            <em>He’s Brotherhood. A traitor!</em></p><p>
  <em>            He didn’t know. He deserves a chance.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>            They’re going to kill him if they find out.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>            They’re going to kill us when he brings them to us.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>            He deserves to die.</em>
</p><p>At some point, a middle-aged woman in a scarf that Danse had never seen before ran into the tunnels and gave the Brotherhood soldier kneeling on the floor a confused look.</p><p>            “Dez!” Deacon said.</p><p>            “What the hell is the Brotherhood doing here?”</p><p>            “It’s complicated”.</p><p>            “Wait,” Desdemona said recognizing. “This is the one Negotiator told us about. The Brotherhood synth. What’s he doing here?”</p><p>            “He found out about us somehow and snuck in here,” Glory scoffed.</p><p>            “And you didn’t silence him?”</p><p>            “On the contrary, the cat’s out of the bag. M7-97’s been made aware of his true identity,” Doctor Carrington sighed. “Not my idea”.</p><p>            “Dez, <em>look at him</em>,” Deacon said softly. “We’re supposed to <em>help</em> people like him”.</p><p>            “The Brotherhood are <em>here, </em>Deacon! We’re about to be in for a major clusterfuck!”</p><p>            “But…” Danse said, still halfway in a stupor from the shock. “They <em>can’t</em> be here”.</p><p>            “No one asked you,” Desdemona spat.</p><p>            “No, they’re not coming until morning!”</p><p>            “It <em>is</em> morning!” Desdemona said, before looking at Danse and then Deacon in confusion. “How long have you been down here?”</p><p>            “We had a lot of explaining to do,” Deacon sighed. “<em>Shit</em>, they’re going to be looking for him too!</p><p>            “And I thought we were finally out of the woods,” Desdemona groaned, before grabbing Danse forcefully by the shoulder. “Alright, you! <em>Danse? </em>That’s your name, right?”</p><p>            “I…<em>I don’t know anymore</em>”.</p><p>            “Goddammit! We’re not fooling anyone sending him back up like this…”</p><p>            “We might as well put a sign on the door that says ‘Railroad are here,” Carrington said, rubbing his temples. “Wait, maybe we could use his recall code, then drag him up to the infirmary and play it off as a medical situation!”</p><p>            “We can’t turn synths back on once they’ve been reset!” Deacon warned Carrington. “You’re proposing putting him in a permanent coma!”</p><p>            “It’s a mercy compared to all the other options we face, for him <em>and</em> us. May I remind you, Deacon, that we’re dealing with the Brotherhood of Steel? If the truth gets out, everyone in this room dies! Everyone!”</p><p>            Carrington turned to Danse. “After all…as far as you’re concerned, aren’t we’re all traitors here? I can’t imagine your Elder will see it any differently. The Brotherhood are all the same…”</p><p>            “No, they’re not,” Deacon interrupted. “I don’t need to remind you that we have Nora”.</p><p>            “The Negotiator,” Desdemona said quietly. “She’s a good woman. I want to believe that, I really do. She’s had a lot of time to make a clear choice, Deacon. If she were forced to sacrifice either the Railroad or the Brotherhood in the name of helping the Minutemen keep the peace in the Commonwealth, who do you think she’d choose?”</p><p>            “Hopefully our peace-loving General will be able to muster the strength to protect the people of the Commonwealth,” Carrington stated. “She defied the Brotherhood once to help us shelter innocents. Maybe we can count on her to make that choice again”.</p><p>            “There are good people on the Prydwen too,” Danse said softly. “Scribes who don’t engage in combat. Hell, <em>children</em>”.</p><p>            “You keep <em>kids</em> on that warship?!” Glory said in anger.</p><p>            “Soldiers have family too. Hell, <em>Nora</em> has a young son. She wouldn’t risk a war with the Brotherhood with his future on the line, not even in the name of the Commonwealth”.</p><p>            “There’s a lot she didn’t tell you,” Deacon said, shaking his head. “She’s always been <em>careful </em>with her words. Maybe that’s the key to all of this. I <em>trust</em> her, before all else. I’m going to find her, and maybe we can get through this before it’s too late”.</p><p>#</p><p>            “I have to go check in with Preston Garvey,” Nora told Arthur after she stepped off of the Vertibird. Thankfully, Arthur didn’t give her any grief on separating from him momentarily. He’d wanted to check in with Brotherhood forces at the Castle first before addressing the Minutemen. A few moments for each leader to check in with their subordinates was completely understandable. His only response was “don’t keep me waiting too long”.</p><p>            To his confusion, Sentinel Danse was nowhere to be found. Paladin Marzov, the next highest-ranking officer, mentioned to Elder Maxson that the last time Danse had been seen by the Brotherhood was when he’d headed to his quarters for the night. Figuring that Danse had perhaps overslept, Marzov had gone to the Minutemen officer’s quarters to seek the Sentinel out. Preston Garvey, already occupied with a million other things, had no idea where Danse was --- though Garvey was quick to point out that Danse’s power armor was still right where he’d left it.</p><p>            “I’d say he’s using the can, but he’s been gone a while. I’ll keep an eye out for him,” Garvey had promised Marzov.</p><p>            “I’ll give it a few minutes. Maybe he’ll turn up now that Nora and I are here,” Arthur said. His gaze was already shifting to various points on the Castle, waiting on the Sentinel to suddenly reappear at some point along the Castle walls. He could see Preston and Nora talking in the background, with Preston no doubt including Danse’s mysterious disappearance in his report to the Minutemen’s General. Another figure approached from one of the Castle walls --- a bald man with sunglasses.</p><p>            “I wonder if it has something to do with him…” Marzov said.</p><p>            “What do you know about the man with the sunglasses on, Paladin?”<br/>            “He’s one of the General’s Lieutenants. Beyond that, I know almost nothing. Danse and I both agreed he’s a bit suspicious though”.</p><p>            <em>I don’t like where this is going,</em> Arthur thought to himself, pretending to break from Marzov to take a quick peek at the Castle’s bar. It was better if it didn’t look like he was still keeping one eye firmly placed on Nora Mulyer.</p><p>#</p><p>            “Boss. Basement. Situation”.</p><p>            “Preston, I thought I asked Danse to pass on the message to—”</p><p>            “He told me Elder Maxson was coming. We uh…<em>organized</em> downstairs. Made it <em>presentable</em>,” Preston said discretely.</p><p>            “So what’s going on in the basement?”</p><p>            “We had an unwanted guest,” Deacon said warily.</p><p>            “<em>Shit.</em> There couldn’t be a worse time. What happened after he went downstairs?”</p><p>            “Followed Tom into a restricted area, didn’t like what he found. I had to spill the beans to keep him and Glory from murdering each other”.</p><p>            “So he knows about…<em>you all</em>?”</p><p>            “I had to tell him <em>everything.</em> He’s not taking the news well. See if you can talk to him --- try and get him to snap out of it long enough to smooth this visit over. We can worry about the long term <em>after</em> we don’t have company over”.</p><p>            “I’ll go down there immediately. You two, I’m heading to my quarters to grab something. Entertain Arthur for a few minutes”. From her quarters, there was a stairwell leading to the basement tunnels. From there, she merely needed to sneak to the Railroad’s hideout and secure Danse quickly before there was a problem. With the clock ticking, she hurried to her chambers. Preston and Deacon both looked at each other before turning their attention to the Brotherhood Elder chatting up the barkeep.</p><p>#</p><p>            It was a quick run from the General’s quarters to the Railroad’s HQ front entrance for anyone who knew where they were going. To anyone else, the Castle’s underground tunnels still looked dusty and cobweb-ridden so that they would appear less assuming to outsiders. Scrambling through the twists and turns of the underground labyrinth, Nora quickly found the switch for the front entrance (the same one Danse had found), and burst into the Railroad’s lair.</p><p>            “Alright!” She gasped, out of breath as Carrington re-sealed the door. “I’m here. Where is—”</p><p>            “Here”. It was Danse himself who said that, even as he refused to look at Nora or get up off of his knees into a standing position. His voice was a strange cocktail of pain, anger, and confusion.</p><p>            “Danse, listen, we don’t have much time. Maxson’s upstairs looking for you”.</p><p>            “I heard”.</p><p>            “So?”</p><p>            “Why didn’t you tell me?”</p><p>            “<em>Huh</em>?” Danse responded to Nora’s confusion with an angry glare. If looks could have killed, the General would have fallen to the floor at that moment. More concerning still, no one had ever even imagined Danse crying before.</p><p>            “By God,” Carrington began. “We don’t have time for—”</p><p>            “SHUT UP!” Danse roared before focusing his attention on Nora. There was a brief hesitation as Danse picked his next words carefully. “You knew. You knew <em>everything</em>. You collected information from the Institute about my true identity about who, no, <em>what</em> I really am. I always thought you were one of the most forthright soldiers I’d ever seen. If any of that was ever true, why am I the last person in this room to find out about myself. <em>WHY didn’t you say anything?!”</em></p><p>“I <em>did</em>. I told Preston and I told the Railroad”.</p><p>            “But not me”.</p><p>            “But not you”.</p><p>            “Or the Brotherhood? Not even Elder Maxson?”</p><p>            Nora felt a lump in her throat at Arthur’s title. It took her a moment to answer. “No, <em>not even to them</em>”.</p><p>            “Did we mean that little to you?” His voice was softer now. Wavering and unconfident: the exact opposite of how she’d always pictured Saul Johnfield Danse to be. “You’ve always known that the Brotherhood were here to destroy the Institute and all of its unchecked technology. All the way back at ArcJet when we first met, you saw what Institute synths were capable of! All the damage they could do --- all the damage <em>I </em>could do! You’ve known, ever since you entered the Institute, and you never told any of us anything. After all the Brotherhood’s done for you…after all <em>I’ve</em> done for you…why?!”</p><p>            “You’re completely misunderstanding, Danse”.</p><p>            “Am I? Enlighten me, Knight-Captain”.</p><p>            “You aren’t one of those <em>things</em> from Arc-Jet! Look at yourself, Danse! Look at all the memories you have of the Brotherhood and the Capital Wasteland! Of <em>Cutler</em>, and Haylen, and Rhys. After all the things you’ve done of your own free will, you’re really going to compare yourself to some mindless killing machine?”</p><p>            “I’M A SYNTH, NORA. My memories don’t matter! I remember being a child. I remember growing up in the ruins! Everything, all of those things that they obviously programmed into my head! There’s no telling where M7-97 ends and where Danse begins”.</p><p>            “That’s not true,” Glory interjected.</p><p>            “I’m not talking to you, Glory”.</p><p>            “But I’m taking to you! We all read the holotape entry. The earliest record of you after you escaped is from 2271. You’re in Rivet City by 2272, and in the Brotherhood of Steel by 2273. When I left the Institute, I also had to come to terms with what I was, and who I am now. Take it from me: we’re not the machines the Institute built us to be. The Railroad are here to make sure of that, and your friend Nora did all of the things she did to allow people like you and I to remain who we are”.</p><p>            “No matter who we try to be,” Danse insisted, “we are still just synths in the end. It doesn’t matter what kind of good we think we’re doing. By having free will at all, we simply shouldn’t exist, and if the Brotherhood finds out about us, we won’t”.</p><p>            “Which is why I never told you or Maxson,” Nora said softly. “Because if I told you or Maxson first, that would have been your answer. You won’t even consider the fact that you’re the proof that the Brotherhood are wrong.  You’re a synth, and yet everything you’ve done has been for the good of mankind! Solely just on what you’ve done for me alone, how could I possibly throw you to the wolves like that? I won’t do it, Danse”.</p><p>            Danse seemed flabbergasted, staring at Nora in total silence before finally standing up on his two feet and looking at her.</p><p>            “Y-y…you’re right. How could I have been so blind?”</p><p>            “Good question,” a voice that had previously been silent said. Ominously, everyone remaining in the Railroad HQ stared in bewilderment as a familiar, scarred visage emerged from the shadows. Somehow, Maxson had found his way into the Railroad HQ’s back entrance. Preston’s laser musket was in Maxson’s hands, fully charged. The barrel was aimed directly at Danse.</p><p>            “How…how did you—”</p><p>            “Knight-Captain,” Maxson said in fury. “<em>Why has this thing not been destroyed?</em>”</p><p>#</p><p>            When Preston and Deacon presented themselves to Arthur and stated that Nora had gone to her quarters to grab something, Arthur had already begun counting down possibilities in his mind. With Danse missing, Nora disappearing into her quarters, and the other Minutemen approaching him so suddenly for what seemed like casual conversation, only a few feasible realities could be possible.</p><p>            Option 1: It really was all just a fluke. If that were true, Nora would return within a few minutes. Arthur kept his gaze on the doorway that Nora had disappeared into. Preston and Deacon were making small talk with him. He answered pleasantly and yet robotically, counting the span of three minutes or so in his mind as he waited. It quickly became clear that this was <em>not</em> all a fluke. If all Nora needed was some odd-or-end out of her quarters, she would have returned by now.</p><p>            Option 2: Wherever Danse had disappeared to, Nora was going. If Danse had left in the middle of the night and <em>still </em>not emerged, then Arthur’s insistence on accompanying Nora to the Castle to ensure that all threats were gone was suddenly <em>very </em>justified. A threat that could compromise a Sentinel of the Brotherhood of Steel, let alone <em>Danse</em>, was something that needed to be looked at immediately. Preston and Deacon had no doubt been sent to keep tabs on him in an attempt to keep him out of the way.</p><p>            This, he could not have. He questioned the logic of having Marzov intervene while he went after Nora to find the truth. Without any specific information on the threat, Maxson worried an intervention would cause a panic. Like Preston and Deacon, he’d need to be careful to keep things discreet.</p><p>            “You said the General went to her quarters?”</p><p>            “Yeah. Sometimes she gets a bit side-tracked,” Deacon mentioned.</p><p>            “She has missed a lot of work,” Preston added, trying to make an excuse. “I left her a long list on her desk. The latest reports of super-mutant hives and raider hotspots. Disputes between settlements. Minutemen patrols, that kind of thing…”</p><p>            “Indeed,” Arthur nodded. “Hopefully when the Institute’s dealt with, she’ll be able to sit in for a nice long time and catch up on all that missing work”.</p><p>            “Glad to see you’re not the type to expect her to stay home,” Deacon smiled.</p><p>            “One of the reasons this political marriage occurred was to form an alliance between the Brotherhood and the Minutemen. She’s going to remain your leader as long as it’s feasible. Of course after everything she’d been through, it’s not <em>political </em>for me to say that I’d prefer seeing her comfortable behind a desk rather than continuing on the frontlines. Some peace and quiet can’t possibly hurt…”</p><p>            “Agreed,” Preston nodded.</p><p>            “<em>In fact</em>,” Maxson added, an idea forming in his mind. “Where <em>are</em> her quarters? I’m curious to see if my wife might need anything”.</p><p>            “It’s not…er…polite, to just go walking into a lady’s room,” Preston said warily. The last thing Maxson needed to see was the staircase leading down to the basement level.</p><p>            “Under normal circumstances, of course, but Nora and I share quarters on the Prydwen now. Besides, it’s not like I won’t knock”.</p><p>            “Well…” Deacon was planning in his own mind. “Why not? Preston <em>did</em> have that list of super mutant hives on her desk”.</p><p>            “Uh…right. Let’s just make this quick, huh? You might be comfortable in her bedroom but I’d rather not think about it too hard”. Unwillingly, Preston and Deacon led Arthur Maxson to the General’s quarters of the Castle. No one else was in the meeting room. Nora’s separated bedroom was closed. Sure enough, Maxson knocked twice before getting no response and promptly opening the door. No one was home.</p><p>            “Seems she left,” Maxson muttered, closing the door and then pretending to show interest in the list of threats Preston had left on one of the office desks. Preston looked uneasily at the staircase leading to the lower level of the Castle, while Deacon quietly shut the main entrance of the General’s meeting room.</p><p>            “Looks like we might be here a while,” Arthur Maxson said warily. Deacon’s facial expression made it clear that the three men had now reached a point of no return. Preston still seemed indecisive on how to handle what was unfolding. Arthur made a mental note to try and take advantage of that indecisiveness while he still could.</p><p>            “Well, I guess we have no choice,” Deacon said. “It’s obvious she’s busy. I guess we might as well tell you with what”.</p><p>            “I’m listening”.</p><p>            “Deacon, I’m not sure that’s such a good—”</p><p>            “The Minutemen don’t just stop at being enforcers for problems too small for the Brotherhood to care about. A lot of problems in the Commonwealth require a <em>lighter</em> touch. Infiltrating Goodneighbor mobs for example, or coordinating information carried from caravan to caravan. Maybe even getting close to the ears of bigger players like Mayor Hancock or Mayor McDonough to get Goodneighbor and Diamond City to play nice with the Minutemen”.</p><p>            “You’re saying the Minutemen have a surveillance office,” Arthur scoffed. “Are you trying to tell me that’s where Nora is right now? Dealing with something related to surveillance?”</p><p>            “Like I said, it requires a very <em>light</em> touch. We had a situation right before you arrived she’s dealing with. I kinda doubt it’s anything the Brotherhood cares about”.</p><p>            “Even if it’s such a <em>hush-hush</em> situation,” Arthur said semi-accusingly, “what harm would there be in at least telling <em>me</em>? Unless it has something to do with why my division’s highest ranked field officer is nowhere to be seen? Something you may not wish to tell me?”</p><p>            “Danse? Haven’t seen him since last night. We all know how much he loves super mutant patrols, and there was one spotted not far from here. Maybe he felt like getting some exercise and got caught up”. Almost immediately, Arthur Maxson started <em>laughing</em>, clapping his hands and looking at Deacon defiantly as Deacon inched closer.</p><p>            “That’s a very funny picture considering I’ve had to ask Danse not to wear his power armor while eating dinner at the mess hall”. The next thing Arthur heard was Preston rushing towards him with the butt of his rifle. On the average Wastelander or raider, it was a move that probably would have worked. On Arthur, who’d spent almost half his life in combat training, it was futile. The Brotherhood Elder whipped around towards Preston with ease, blocking the rifle with his left arm before slamming his right fist into Preston’s jaw. With an almost inhuman level of speed, Arthur found himself grabbing a vase off of the nearest table and throwing it squarely at Deacon’s face. There had been enough force between the punch and the vase being thrown to incapacitate both men for at least a couple of minutes. Scooping up Preston’s rifle before heading into the basement, Maxson began cranking charges into the weapon while rushing down the stairs to find where Nora (and likely Danse) were hiding.</p><p>            It was dark in the tunnels, but the glow from the laser musket helped illuminate the way. Better yet, the dust and cobwebs of the old tunnels revealed <em>footprints</em>. Several people passed through the tunnels. Most sets of prints ended at various storage locations before returning to a set of staircases. A few prints could be seen ending at a strange point on the wall; likely a concealed door. The most recent prints were difficult to make out in the dust, but one set looked as though it had been made by Brotherhood combat boots.</p><p>            <em>Danse</em>.</p><p>            If this ‘surveillance office’ was worth its salt, there would be more than one entrance. Going in through the front was a predictable move; Preston and Deacon would likely make their way to this location looking for him as soon as they’d had a few minutes to recover. Following other footsteps, Maxson soon found that there was also a hidden door in another tunnel. A perceptive eye could see that one brick on the Castle wall looked slightly discolored. When Maxson pushed it, the door opened, and he made his way slowly through the secret chambers of the Castle to hear a discussion between Danse and Nora.</p><p>            “…everything, all of those things that they obviously programmed into my head! There’s no telling where M7-97 ends and where Danse begins”.</p><p>            “That’s not true”.</p><p>            “I’m not talking to you, Glory”.</p><p>            “But I’m taking to you! We all read the holotape entry. The earliest record of you after you escaped is from 2271. You’re in Rivet City by 2272, and in the Brotherhood of Steel by 2273. When I left the Institute, I also had to come to terms with what I was, and who I am now. Take it from me: we’re not the machines the Institute built us to be. The Railroad are here to make sure of that, and your friend Nora did all of the things she did to allow people like you and I to remain who we are”.</p><p>            The first realization was immediate, hitting Arthur Maxson like a cannonball to the head. It was classified knowledge that some synths had been escaping from the Commonwealth under assumed identities and making their way to other places. A few had turned up in the Capital Wasteland, prompting the Brotherhood’s investigation into the Commonwealth seven years ago. The strangest story Maxson had ever heard was of an escaped synth making it all the way to a place called New Vegas, although this synth had apparently been there for a <em>decade</em> before being discovered.</p><p>            Never in Maxson’s life did he expect to hear that <em>Danse</em>, one of his most trusted officers, was one of <em>them</em>. A sense of rage overtook Maxson. How long had Danse known about this? From what the third unknown voice had just explained, Danse had escaped sometime in the early 2270s. Maxson remembered Danse as a Knight who’d been on patrol at the Citadel, watching over Arthur when he was just a child. He remembered becoming a Paladin and getting words of advice from Knight-Captain Danse. He’d remembered becoming Elder and relying on several Paladins, Danse among them, for support as he adjusted to his role. Now, here Maxson was, utterly betrayed to learn that a man who’d been a staple in his turbulent life for so long <em>wasn’t even a living being</em>.</p><p>            “No matter who we try to be, we are still just synths in the end. It doesn’t matter what kind of good we think we’re doing. By having free will at all, we simply shouldn’t exist, and if the Brotherhood finds out about us, we won’t”.</p><p>            “Which is why I never told you or Maxson,” Nora said softly.</p><p>            The second realization was delayed, not making itself fully known until Maxson had processed what Nora had just said. Danse had never lied to him because Danse himself was somehow unaware of his lack of humanity during all of that time. The person who <em>had</em> known all along was none other than Nora, and Danse being unlucky enough to stumble across that hidden information was what had started this turn of events. The feelings of betrayal stirring in Arthur Maxson only got worse, mixed with a voice trying to rationalize how any of this could even be happening.</p><p>            How could she possibly have learned Danse was a synth? A dark voice in his mind reminded him of the missing 1.8 Gigabytes of data that Proctor Quinlan had attributed to file corruption in the download. Nora Mulyer had <em>purposefully</em> hidden that information from the Brotherhood. It was an act of betrayal that would have seen her executed almost immediately for high treason. No matter how much he cared about her, this was a decision he could not abide.</p><p>            “Y-y…you’re right. How could I have been so blind?” As Maxson heard Danse ask that question, he felt his body move forward, aiming the laser musket at Danse’s head. From the very bottom of his heart, Arthur heard a voice ask himself the same question.</p><p>            <em>How could you not have realized such treachery? </em>His presence was obvious now. Everyone in the room was looking at him. Nora was stunned. Danse seemed <em>horrified</em>.</p><p>“How…how did you—”</p><p>            “Knight-Captain,” Maxson said in fury. “Why has this thing not been destroyed?”</p><p>            “How did you find us?” Nora asked in disbelief. Maxson felt a low, angry growl escape his throat.</p><p>            “Your men said you were getting something from your quarters. When you took more than a few minutes to manage such a simple errand, I suspected something was wrong. My instincts were correct in telling me that someone was hiding something, but I never expected that it would be <em>you</em>. I heard much of that conversation, Knight-Captain. What happened at the Institute to make you betray the Brotherhood?”</p><p>            “It’s not her fault,” Danse felt himself say. “It’s mi—”</p><p>            “I’ll deal with you in a moment”.</p><p>            “He’s still alive because you’re wrong about him,” Nora said defiantly.</p><p>            “Him?! <em>HIM?! </em>May I remind you that Danse isn’t a man?! It’s a <em>machine</em>, Nora! An automaton created by the Institute using, may I remind you, DNA stolen from you when they took your son? It wasn’t born from the womb of a loving mother, it was grown in the cold confines of a laboratory! Flesh is flesh! Machine is machine! The two were never meant to intertwine! By attempting to play God, the Institute has taken the sanctity of human life and corrupted it beyond measure! You of all people should understand this after what they did to your son!”</p><p>            “After all I’ve done for the Brotherhood,” Danse asked. “<em>All </em>the blood I’ve spilled in our name, how can you say that about me?”</p><p>            “You’re the physical embodiment of what we hate most!” Maxson screamed. “Technology that’s gone too far! Go upstairs and look around the outside of the Castle walls, Danse! Look at the scorched earth and the bones that litter the wasteland! Millions…perhaps even <em>billions</em> died because technology outpaced man’s restraint. They called it a ‘new frontier’ and ‘pushing the envelope’ completely disregarding the repercussions. Can’t you see the same thing is happening again?! You’re a single bomb in an arsenal of millions preparing to lay waste to what’s left of mankind”.</p><p>            “Bombs don’t <em>save</em> people, Arthur,” Nora insisted, stepping forward to stand between Danse and Maxson. The Laser Musket remained aimed at Danse, with Nora now standing between the two soldiers. Nora noticed Maxson’s finger shift away from the trigger of the laser musket. Glory lifted her minigun higher, aiming towards Maxson.</p><p>            “You shoot that gun,” Glory warned Elder Maxson, “and I shoot back. I don’t tend to miss…”</p><p>            “I’ve had worse,” Maxson growled. Nora extended a hand upwards, signaling for Glory to stand still.</p><p>            “General, this is war! We might as well just—”</p><p>            “Your finger isn’t on the trigger,” Nora whispered to Maxson.</p><p>            “You think that <em>thing</em> saved you,” Maxson scoffed. “I’ve worried for a long time that you weren’t mentally capable anymore. You’re clearly <em>delusional</em>”.</p><p>            “Is that what you’re calling it now?”</p><p>            “One chance,” Maxson said, keeping the gun focused on Nora. “You’re <em>sick</em>. Step away from that machine, and maybe we can see about fixing this situation. Maybe this ends with you getting the psychological care you need, rather than me putting a laser through your heart”.</p><p>            “Wow, husband of the century,” Glory murmured.</p><p>            “<em>The gun’s shaking</em>,” Nora whispered again. Maxson’s face crumpled into a look of fury.</p><p>            “You’re trying to saying I’m <em>weak</em>”.</p><p>            “No. I’m trying to say there’s still good in you!” Nora screamed, losing her composure as she pointed at Danse. “<em>Look at him!</em> How many times did he save me, Arthur? Between the ghoul bite at Lexington, the Deathclaw at the Glowing Sea, getting me back home to the Prydwen after the Institute attacked? <em>Literally</em> spilling his blood so I wouldn’t die of shock? And that’s <em>just</em> me! How many years of loyal service has that man given to you?! How many other soldiers came home alive because of him?”</p><p>            “You <em>owe</em> him, Maxson, even more than I do, and he owes the Railroad for saving him all those years ago! After all the sacrifices he’s made, surely you can let this go?! <em>One </em>time?”</p><p>            “You have the Railroad under the Castle! Even if I <em>did</em> let Danse go…what about the rest of the enemies you’ve been sheltering this whole time?!”</p><p>            “If they really wanted to undermine you, why are they still here helping <em>me</em>?” Maxson was silent, staring at Nora with no response. “All they want to do is help escaped synths leave the Institute, is that really such a bad thing?! They get a new face, a new name, different memories so the Institute can’t track them down and put them back in their arsenal of bombs, as you called it! The one truly dangerous thing about synths can be neutralized by the Railroad with no casualties! No one has to die!”</p><p>            “You really think it’s worth taking the chance just to avoid getting your hands dirty? How many human lives could be saved by just eliminating the synths and negating the possibility of the Institute regaining control of the synths altogether?”</p><p>            “Fucking madman…” Carrington muttered. Nora ignored him, lowering her voice and asking Maxson, “have you ever heard of Covenant?”</p><p>            “One of your settlements”.</p><p>            “I had the Minutemen murder everyone there before we took over”.</p><p>            “You did <em>what</em>?” Danse and Maxson both asked in horror.</p><p>            “They were hunting down synths to try and ‘cleanse’ the population like you were. Problem was, they didn’t care about all the humans they killed in the process just for not <em>seeming</em> human enough. They honestly <em>bragged</em> about finding so many synths, Maxson! Glorified it! You know how many false positives they had in the process? They were ‘working’ towards getting it to one in six attempts. That’s five dead humans for every synth! How dirty do our hands need to get in the name of solving the synth problem? Using those methods, how many people were <em>really</em> being saved?”</p><p>            “Jesus…” Danse muttered in horror, going over the numbers in his head. “…<em>she really is right”.</em></p><p>            “It doesn’t matter!” Maxson growled, lowering the gun but still looking at Danse accusingly. “We can’t trust the word of a machine that believes it’s alive. The machine standing behind you has had its mind erased, its thoughts programmed…its very soul manufactured! Those ethics that’s striving to champion aren’t even its own!”</p><p>            “<em>THEY’RE YOURS</em>!” Nora screamed at Maxson, stepping forward and closing the distance between them. “<em>YOUR ethics ‘it’s’ championing. YOUR mission ‘it’s’ carrying out! YOUR banner ‘it’s’ waving!</em>”</p><p>            “Only as long as the Institute doesn’t flip a switch and call him back to their side…” Maxson said ominously.</p><p>            “And whose fault is that, Arthur? Mine? Danse’s? The Railroad? Will killing any of us solve the problem?”</p><p>            “No”. It was Preston’s voice that emerged from the background now, behind Nora. He and Deacon had reached the front entrance of the Railroad. Deacon’s rifle was focused on Maxson. An unarmed Preston patted Nora on the shoulder before adding, “<em>but killing any of us will get you a war you never bargained for</em>”.</p><p>            “Be careful what you wish for,” Maxson scoffed.</p><p>            “We’re all Minutemen here, Maxson, even Danse. You once promised us you were an ally. Well, now it’s time to make good on that promise. Does the Brotherhood still stand with the Minutemen, or not?”</p><p>            “Believe me,” Maxson warned Preston, “if I wanted the Minutemen gone, there wouldn’t even be bones left behind. You could never win a war against the Brotherhood”.</p><p>            “No, but one well-placed artillery shot might cripple you enough to make our point clear,” Deacon said sharply. “That blimp isn’t hard to miss…”</p><p>            “As I said, <em>I’ve</em> made my choice. As long as we have the Minutemen’s co-operation, you have nothing to fear from the Brotherhood. However, I need to know <em>you</em> are still loyal”.</p><p>            His eyes focused on Nora. “I’m going to <em>forget</em> that the Railroad have a base of operations here under your supervision. As far as I’m concerned, I got lost and wandered into the Minutemen’s surveillance office. I got a tour for my trouble and learned some fascinating things about the Minutemen’s staff”.</p><p>            “You’re actually letting us go?” Glory said in shock.</p><p>            “One good turn deserves another. If you think you can use the Railroad to the Minutemen’s mission of protecting the people of the Commonwealth, I can pretend they don’t exist. However, Danse is Brotherhood, and firmly within my realm of command. I don’t intend to debate his situation any longer. Our rules are clear; there’s no place for a synth in our ranks. Either you execute him, or I will”.</p><p>            “I’m going to have to shoot him,” Deacon muttered. To everyone’s surprise, it was Danse who spoke next, gently taking Nora’s hand and pulling her out of the way.</p><p>            “Deal”.</p><p>            From the Minutemen came cries of shock and disbelief.</p><p>            “W-what the hell?! Are you crazy?!” Nora asked him.</p><p>            “I’ll be damned if I’m the reason you lose your alliances with the Brotherhood and the Railroad. Maxson just said he was willing to give the Railroad peace in exchange for me. I may not like it…but I owe them. I think <em>this</em> is fair payment”.</p><p>            “If there be any truer measure of a man than by what he does, it must be by what he gives,” Deacon murmured.</p><p>            “Robert South,” Danse almost laughed. “You’re very well-read. I finally find a reason to compliment you, Deacon, and it had to be <em>now</em>?”</p><p>            “Then it’s settled,” Maxson said, lowering the laser musket completely. “Even the machine realizes what needs to be done. Do it, and we can all put this business behind us”.</p><p>            “I think you might have to be the one to do it,” Danse said to Maxson, pointing at the obviously shaken Nora. Danse turned back to the other Minutemen before adding, “don’t worry about me. I’m going to my grave with no anger and no regrets”.</p><p>            “But…”</p><p>            “Glory,” Danse said softly, giving her a smile. “Put the minigun down”. As he said that, Maxson raised the musket back up and looked at Danse.</p><p>            “Get away from the rest of them”.</p><p>            “No!” Nora yelled, snapping out of her shock.</p><p>            “Danse chose for you. Stand down,” Maxson warned her.</p><p>            “He’s a fucking Lieutenant! I'm the goddamned General! He doesn’t get to choose!”</p><p>            “You're right, but I'm the Elder of the Brotherhood. You don't get to choose either".</p><p>            “After everything I’ve done for the Brotherhood, all the sacrifices I’ve made, you <em>need</em> to listen to me! You owe me that much!”</p><p>            “I’ve given you the Railroad and a clean record despite what is either a <em>harsh</em> betrayal, or a sign that you’re too mentally unwell to hold any sort of leadership position. What else could I possibly owe you?”</p><p>            “If there was <em>anything</em> between us, at <em>any </em>point…”</p><p>            Finally, that got to him. Maxson could be seen rolling his eyes before muttering, “fine. I’m listening. I promise you nothing”.</p><p>            “He’s saved countless Brotherhood soldiers, Arthur. For my sake, if nothing else, it’s time you save his”.</p><p>            “Why do you think I’m letting the Railroad go? That isn’t just for you --- he owes them a debt? <em>Fine.</em> They can live because Danse saved you and they saved Danse. That discussion is over. You can’t pay with the same Caps twice”.</p><p>            “Then consider this. Once I agreed to give you my life in exchange for Shaun and the Minutemen. I’m not getting Shaun; I know that’s not your fault, but I’m still missing half of what I asked for, so give me Danse instead”.</p><p>            “Nora…” she was testing his patience.</p><p>            “<em>Please!</em>” He looked enraged, hearing that. Deacon braced for what would undoubtedly be a violent end to the argument, half expecting to see Maxson snap and shoot Danse through the eyes.</p><p>            There was silence.</p><p>            “…you’re a stubborn woman. It appears we’ve arrived at an impasse. Allowing Danse to live undermines everything the Brotherhood stands for, and yet you insist he remains alive. This leaves me with only a single alternative”.</p><p>            Maxson set the laser musket down unto the ground before looking at Danse. “As far as I’m concerned…<em>you’re not here.</em> You were needed for a top-secret Minuteman operation. You left your power armor behind as part of the operation’s requirements. Only the upper echelon of the Minutemen and myself know where you are, and we don’t expect you back any time soon. From this day forward, you are forbidden to contradict this story. You will not set foot on the Prydwen or speak to anyone from the Brotherhood of Steel. Should you choose to ignore me, know that you will be executed immediately. Do we understand each other?”</p><p>            “I do. Thank you for believing in me, Arthur”.</p><p>            “Don’t mistake my mercy for acceptance. The only reason you’re still alive is because of her”.</p><p>            “Bu—” Danse put his hand over Nora’s mouth, whispering <em>‘quit while you’re ahead, soldier’.</em></p><p>“Indeed,” Maxson muttered. “I’ll see myself out. Quite frankly this entire ordeal has been exceedingly tiresome. I’ll collect Danse’s power armor and smooth out any suspicions among the troops I’ve garrisoned here at Fort Independence. Take some time. Say your goodbyes. The Brotherhood have work to do at Sentinel Scott Prescott. I’ll send for you after that work is done, Knight-Captain”.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So, this story is almost over. All that's left to address is the Institute. That might still involve a couple of chapters as to what happens before, during, and after this upcoming thing --- but it's almost over! :O</p><p>I have had some changes happen in my life (nothing bad). This leaves me with considerably less time to write. I'm also feeling a bit burnt out, so there's that. That is not to say that this story is going on hiatus --- with it being so close to done, I can't imagine not finishing it. </p><p>With that being said, near daily updates will likely no longer be an option for the remainder of the story.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0046"><h2>46. Personal Time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 46: In which Nora reflects on life after a particular betrayal.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>PERSONAL TIME</h1><p>
  <em>“I’m so sorry I forgot you/let me catch you up to speed/I’ve been tested like the ends of/a weathered flag that’s by the sea” – Twenty One Pilots, “Chlorine”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            Even for the Brotherhood, Sentinel Site Prescott was a lengthy endeavor. Laying in bed at the Castle after the aftermath of her confrontation with Elder Maxson, Nora couldn’t help but feel that her latest orders were Arthur’s way of putting some distance between him and her. Preston had privately mentioned to Nora that this was for the best, not totally convinced that Maxson would make good on his promise to spare the Railroad or Danse.</p><p>            “Maxson’s a lot of things, but he’s not a liar,” Danse had said on the matter. After Danse had finally convinced everyone that they had nothing to fear from the Brotherhood (provided he stayed hidden), the group had broken to handle the rest of the day’s affairs. In the shock of the morning’s events, Nora had thrown herself into work and allowed everything else to fade away. Towards the evening, she decided to call it an early night.</p><p>            A knock at the door of her private bedroom interrupted her thoughts. Getting up from the bed to greet whoever was there, she heard a child’s voice at the door. When she opened the door, she saw MacCready holding a small boy.</p><p>            “W-we’re not bothering you, are we?”</p><p>            “MacCready?!” It was the first time she’d seen him since he’d left for the Capital Wasteland.</p><p>            “You’re a hard woman to get ahold of. I stopped by the Castle several days ago while I had Duncan with some friends nearby, but the whole place was under attack. Until they told me you were on that airship, I seriously worried you bit the big one”.</p><p>            “You were at the attack?”</p><p>            “Came in on the tail end of things. All I saw were synths everywhere and those Institute agents with the black armored coats. I wasn’t sure what to do at first, but then I saw Paladin <em>Dense</em> shooting like heck and figured that was my cue to join in”.</p><p>            “You didn’t stay here after that?”<br/>            “I did for a while, but I left right before you showed up! I didn’t <em>mean</em> it that way, Nora, I just couldn’t leave Duncan at that settlement any longer. I went to get him and bring him here”.</p><p>            MacCready beamed with pride at Duncan, who was staring at Nora timidly. “Say <em>hi</em>, little guy. This is the nice lady I was telling you about…”</p><p>            “H-hi way-di…”</p><p>            “Hi Duncan,” Nora said, feigning sweetness. “I’m Nora. I’m one of your dad’s friends”.</p><p>            “Daddy has wots of fwiends”. All Nora could manage in response was a soft chuckle.</p><p>            “Yeah, I do,” MacCready chuckled. “But not many like <em>this</em>. Hey! Pay attention! Can Daddy’s hat stay on his head, please?”</p><p>            “He’s cute, MacCready. How old is he?”</p><p>            “Four,” MacCready said between words to Duncan, before finally giving up and letting the young child wear the cap. “<em>Tomorrow</em>. Thanks to you”.</p><p>            “Daddy,” Duncan whined, “I wanna pway a game”.</p><p>            “In a bit, Duncan. I’ve got something to ask Nora”.</p><p>            “I think I have some <em>chalk</em> somewhere,” Nora said softly, rummaging through some items on her desk before producing a stick of blue chalk.</p><p>            “What do you say, Duncan?”<br/>            “Thank you…”</p><p>            “Yeah,” MacCready said, letting Duncan sit on the floor to scribble shapes to his heart’s content. “…<em>thank you</em>. For everything”.</p><p>            “That’s what friends are for,” Nora nodded.</p><p>            “Well, you are definitely a true friend. I owe you, <em>big time</em>, and I was thinking now’s a good time to start paying off that debt”.</p><p>            “I told you, you don’t have t—”</p><p>            “Oh no! I don’t want to hear that cr…um…”</p><p>            “<em>Crud?</em>”</p><p>            “Crud. I don’t want to hear that crud from you. I’ve made up my mind. I’m joining the Minutemen. You don’t even have to pay me, just put me and Duncan up on a bunk and tell me where to aim; it’s the <em>least</em> I can do”.</p><p>            “MacCready, we’re at war with the Institute. I’m not sure having your son here is the best idea…”</p><p>            “All the more reason to knock some more Institute skulls around quickly. Speaking of which, did you ever find your so—” he stopped himself. Until now, he hadn’t seen much of Nora either. At first, he thought maybe she looked strange because of the recent battle at the Castle. Taking a closer look, he realized her face was starting to look <em>gaunt</em>. He’d seen a thousand-mile stare before, but it looked different across Nora’s face.</p><p>            “Hey…” he lowered his voice. “Nora…<em>what happened</em>?” Not many of things scared the grizzled sharpshooter, but Nora’s blank gaze was coming close to accomplishing the job.</p><p>            “The whole world ended,” she said, suppressing a sad laugh.</p><p>            “…he’s dead?”</p><p>            “No, he’s alive. He’s just not my son anymore. The Institute saw to that”.</p><p>            “Hey, he’s <em>ten</em>, and he didn’t grow up knowing you,” MacCready tried to reassure her. “I mean, it’s not like I really knew my parents either”.</p><p>            “He’s <em>sixty</em>”.</p><p>            “Wait…how is he sixty?”</p><p>            “I was in that Vault a lot longer than I thought”.</p><p>            “Jesus…and you’re sure it’s him? Well, that doesn’t mean you guys can’t talk it out, right?”</p><p>            “Kinda hard to do when you’re the General of the Minutemen and he’s militantly against letting the rest of the Commonwealth be at peace. It’s not like it matters now, MacCready. I can’t get back into the Institute, and he’s dying of terminal cancer. It’s safe to say I’ll never see Shaun again. They might as well have left me in the Vault”.</p><p>            “Don’t give me that,” MacCready scolded her. “When Lucy died, half of me wanted to just turn around and let the ghouls tear me to shreds too, I’ll admit that. I couldn’t let Duncan down though. As for you, I know I missed a lot while I was away for the past month, but it doesn’t take a genius to know you’ve done a lot of good while I was away. The whole Commonwealth’s flying the Minutemen flag now. People look happier. Now, would all that have happened if they just left you in that Vault?”</p><p>            “I guess you’re right…” Nora mumbled.</p><p>            “I might be a bit <em>presumptuous</em> here, but when was the last time you really took time on yourself?” MacCready asked.</p><p>            “I’m sorry?”</p><p>            “When was the last time you did something fun? I’m trying to cheer you up, Nora, you look like hell! C’mon, a night of drinking? Maybe hitting Goodneighbor and singing with Mags on the stage? I know you’ve always been a ‘giver’, but soon there won’t be anything left if you don’t do a little self-care? Maybe it’s time you got a little ‘take’. A pick-me-up can’t <em>possibly</em> hurt”.</p><p>            “I’m the General of the Minutemen,” Nora deflected. “I don’t know that I have that kind of time”.</p><p>            “Alright, so I’m not saying you <em>have</em> to go crazy. I’m just giving you examples of what I’d do if I had the world’s problems on my back on top of my own. Even if you just need some personal time, it can’t possibly hurt, huh?”</p><p>            <em>He’s got a point, you know…</em> Nora heard Nate’s voice say. She knew something had changed in her after the latest incidents after hearing him again. Until now, his voice had always been a source of sadness and mild comfort. Now, in the wake of <em>everything</em>, she was finally getting sick of hearing him. <em>Picturing him</em>. Codsworth. The version of Shaun she’d never met.</p><p>She couldn’t take it anymore.</p><p>            “I’m fine,” Nora said, rubbing her temples. “I just need a little extra rest these days, that’s all”.</p><p>            “We, uh…woke you, huh?”</p><p>            “It’s fine...”</p><p>            “No, it’s really not,” MacCready said, moving to scoop up Duncan. “Look, if you just need some rest, I won’t stop you. I’ll come by later when you’ve gotten some rest. Try and take it easy for me, huh?”</p><p>            “Daddy, chawk!”</p><p>            “Duncan, we can play later when Nora’s not tired, okay?”</p><p>            “Hang on,” Nora said quickly, picking up the blue chalk. “I think I have some green and pink ones too. Duncan, here”.</p><p>            “This is what I mean with you,” MacCready sighed as Duncan greedily took the chalk. “<em>Always</em> giving”.</p><p>            “Wow! Thank you!” Duncan squealed. MacCready noticed that it was the first time he’d seen Nora smile. It was the faintest, quickest smile he’d ever seen.</p><p>            “Guess that’s what keeps you running, huh?” He chuckled. She didn’t seem to hear him, nodding at Duncan before returning to her room and closing the door.</p><p>#</p><p>            True to his word, Arthur had managed to smooth over the Brotherhood forces before leaving for the Prydwen. The steel-clad army seemed impressed by the new developments. They had never expected the Minutemen to be capable of supporting a surveillance agency. Deacon had decided to just <em>roll </em>with it as he walked over to where Danse kept any of his personal effects. The freshly-painted power armor suit was gone, though Deacon found a few extra uniforms, a partially-burned history textbook, and some salvage Danse had set aside to examine. Under Danse’s bed, Deacon could also hear the faint sound of an animal snoring.</p><p>            “Lamar?” <em>Where the hell did Danse get that name, anyway</em>? Maybe it had something to do with who Danse had been before the memory wipe, or maybe there was a bit more depth to the exiled soldier than Deacon realized.</p><p>            “C’mon boy,” Deacon coaxed Lamar. “We’re moving downstairs now”. He’d had to also stop by Preston’s office; the Colonel had found a gas mask for Danse’s face and a Minuteman uniform that actually looked to be about Danse’s size. Once he was sure the Brotherhood weren’t around to see the secret entrance, Deacon returned to the hideout to see Glory consoling Danse.</p><p>            “These belong to you?” Deacon asked Danse, setting the box of items down near Danse’s feet.</p><p>            “Not sure I need Brotherhood uniforms anymore,” Danse muttered.</p><p>            “Well, we can’t have you walking around naked. Preston found a uniform and a gas mask for you, but you need more clothes than that”.</p><p>            “Preferably something with more armor,” Danse muttered.</p><p>            “Hey, I’ve got an armored coat somewhere that might be big enough,” Glory smiled at him. “You’re one of us now, right? I think you’ll be a bit surprised at what the Railroad has at its fingertips”.</p><p>            “It’ll have to do. I can’t exactly go outside and try and pass the time with training Nora’s troops” Danse murmured, riffling through the rest of his things as Lamar climbed up and sat on his lap. “At least your bunker is already reasonably livable”.</p><p>            “I’m just going to pretend you didn’t say that,” Glory said, getting up from her chair and heading to a different part of the Railroad headquarters. While Danse and Deacon set to work putting together some items in a corner for Danse to have his own space, Lamar chittered happily, enjoying the dimly lit tunnels. Once a small chest had been hauled by Deacon from the outside storage tunnels for Danse’s personal use, Danse was left alone to change into civilian attire and make sure the gas mask fit. His beard prevented a tight seal from forming. Both it and his hair were getting longer than usual. In the midst of all that had happened in recent months, he hadn’t managed to find time to see the Prydwen’s barber.</p><p>            <em>Great. Time to find a razor and shave, </em>he noted to himself, while Glory returned with a coat for him.</p><p>#</p><p>            The next few days after the incident at the Castle were eventful. MacCready was formally commissioned as a Minutemen Lieutenant, effectively taking over Danse’s former position of training the new recruits alongside Ronnie Shaw. The older Minutemen veteran saw herself rise to the rank of Sergeant Major, effectively becoming the highest non-commissioned officer on site. Nora had intended to raise her rank higher, but Ronnie had declined citing her old age. “I’m gonna be retirin’ in a few years when things are settled for good, General. I’d rather not join the high command!”</p><p>            Several crates came in from Arturo’s shop at Diamond City. With settlements generating massive amounts of revenue for the Minutemen and <em>two</em> factories now up and running at Starlight and Murkwater Construction Site, the Minutemen were flush enough to order specialty items for their soldiers. The crates contained T-45 and T-51 power armor frames with modifications meant specifically for the Minutemen. Arturo had been busy painting the suits in the iconic blue of the Minutemen flag, even stenciling the Minutemen sigil unto the chest plates, calibrating the shocks on each frame’s legs, and brightening the headlights. Nora and MacCready discretely ensured that one of the T-51 suits made it down to the Railroad HQ, much to Danse’s surprise.</p><p>            To <em>their </em>surprise, Danse was almost unrecognizable, now sporting a clean shave. Rather than take things one step further and trim or shave his growing hair, he instead decided to comb the hair back and put it up into a tight, short top-knot.</p><p>            “Is that…<em>power armor</em>?” He hadn’t expected to wear it again. Maxson had stripped him of the suit that he’d been so proud of.</p><p>            “We’re going to need some heavier units working on some newer projects,” Nora said softly. “I decided to hold one of the T-51 suits for you”.</p><p>            “You…” Danse was at a loss for words. “…really?”</p><p>            “You’ve been around Nora more than I have,” MacCready scolded Danse. “Surely you know how she is by now?”</p><p>            “I…” Danse walked up to the T-51 suit, examining it carefully. Compared to his heavily modified T-60d suit on the Prydwen, most would have called this a major downgrade. The angle of the headlight needed to be adjusted. The bracers on the suit’s hands needed to be modified for a much more fearsome punch. His old suit contained a modified HUD and motion-assist servos that he’d worked on himself.</p><p>            “It’s no Brotherhood of Steel suit,” Nora admitted. “I kinda had to make do with what I had, so this was the best I c—” Danse turning away from the suit and hugging Nora ended her sentence, catching everyone off guard.</p><p>            “It’s <em>perfect</em>,” he smiled tearfully. “More than I could have ever asked for…”</p><p>            “Aww…” MacCready smiled. “Tin can has a heart”.</p><p>            “Watch it, you,” Danse scowled, letting Nora go.</p><p>            “I was going to use that suit myself,” Nora informed him.</p><p>            “Wait, <em>why</em>?” Danse asked. “You’re a Brotherhood Knight-Captain. I know your last suit got ripped to shreds when we were at the Glowing Sea, but Proctor Ingram should be done making you a replacement by now”.</p><p>            “I’m not allowed on combat duty, remember?” Nora reminded him. “That means no power armor from the Brotherhood. Besides, I kinda doubt they wouldn’t lock me up in a padded cell and throw away the key if I told them I needed to head back to the Glowing Sea. It’s not like Elder Maxson doesn’t already think I’m a loon”.</p><p>            “The Glowing Sea, boss?” MacCready gulped. “What the hell do you need to head back there for?”</p><p>            “Indeed, we’ve already gotten everything we need to infiltrate the Institute,” Danse advised. “I know Sentinel Site Prescott’s located somewhere in the Glowing Sea, but sending you there is completely unnecessary”.</p><p>            “It’s not for the Institute or anything else,” Nora explained. “It’s for Virgil. The Institute chased him out when he refused to keep working on infecting the Commonwealth with FEV. If he’s smart enough to make a <em>cure</em> for that virus, think about how many less super mutants we’d have to deal with”.</p><p>            “It <em>would</em> be a nice thought,” Danse said softly. “…I’ve hated those things for so long because of Cutler, but if a <em>cure</em> means a world without them”.</p><p>            “He was your friend <em>before</em> the Brotherhood, right Danse?”</p><p>            “Yeah. Back when I was just <em>Saul</em>”. Another voice cut into the conversation, injecting a bit of levity.</p><p>            “They named you <em>Saul</em>,” Glory laughed. “Man, they’ve really stepped up the name choices since then”.</p><p>            “Better than Glory,” Danse said, rolling his eyes.</p><p>            “His middle name is <em>Johnfield</em>,” MacCready teased, prompting Glory to burst into a fit of hysterical laughter.</p><p>            “<strong><em>Saul Johnfield Danse?!</em> </strong>Who named you, a fucking psychopath?”</p><p>            “That’s not funny,” Danse growled.</p><p>            “Er…you know, the Railroad have codenames,” Nora mentioned. “Maybe you should look into that”.</p><p>            “Tin can!” MacCready grinned.</p><p>            “Should be something with some <em>edge</em> to it,” Glory smiled. “How about Vengeance?”</p><p>            “…Sentinel?” Nora suggested innocently. Danse raised an eyebrow as Nora explained, “I mean, Brotherhood or not, <em>it suits you</em>”.</p><p>            “You worked hard for that rank, right?” Glory added, nudging Danse in the ribs gently with her elbow. “I say you keep it for all your trouble”.</p><p>            “I don’t know that I agree with your advice,” Danse mentioned.</p><p>            “I won’t tell Maxson,” Nora promised, diverting her attention to get a can of purified water off of a nearby shelf.</p><p>            “Listen to ‘em, Danse,” MacCready laughed. “Glory’s got a point”.</p><p>            “Between my killer advice and my ability to kick your ass in a fight, I’m pretty damn glorious. See what a good name can do, <em>Johnfield</em>?”</p><p>            “You wanna go for round two?” Danse asked her, more annoyed than anything.</p><p>            “Put that T-51 armor on and we’ll take it for a spin,” Glory grinned.</p><p>            “Oh god you two,” MacCready rolled his eyes, “just kiss already and be done with it”. The sound of Glory and Danse both screaming <em>what?!</em> was punctuated by Nora spitting out a mouthful of water.</p><p>#</p><p>            The crates had come with a few copies of the latest edition of Publick Occurrences. Nora hadn’t heard from Piper since she’d last been in Diamond City: before Shaun, before Maxson, before the Prydwen and the Castle. A couple of months had never felt like such an eternity. Preston was reading the copy out loud for Nora to listen to while she disassembled one of two power armor stations at the Castle to move it downstairs where Danse could reach it.</p><p>            <em>February 2288: United We Stand, by Piper Wright.</em></p><p>
  <em>            A generation ago, the Minutemen seemed like a dying light among the shadows cast over the Commonwealth. A run of bad luck in the 2230’s and 2240’s saw the massacre of what would have been the Commonwealth Provisional Government, followed not long after by the destruction of the Castle at the hands of a Mirelurk queen. We faced a Commonwealth divided into settlements big and small. The idea of becoming whole again seemed a distant memory.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>            I’ll admit, when the Quincy Massacre first happened, I wrote an issue about my fears on what seemed like the final nail in the coffin for the Commonwealth Minutemen. My earliest memories were of growing up at a settlement that doesn’t exist anymore (isn’t that the story of everyone’s life?), watching leadership bicker about whether or not joining up with the Commonwealth Minutemen was more trouble than it was worth. In the end, that settlement disappeared due to attrition and multiple super mutant attacks. It seemed like this was just the way things were always going to be in the Commonwealth.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>            I was wrong. A lot of people laughed when word came from the northwest about the return of the Minutemen under a new General: a Vault Dweller at that, looking for her lost son. It seemed like such a strange tale, but then suddenly settlements across the northwestern Commonwealth began raising the blue and white flag again. Whether the task involved taking back Fort Independence from the Mirelurks that ruined it forty years ago, founding settlements and creating job opportunities for wasteland wanderers with nowhere else to go, or even helping Diamond City’s Travis “Lonely” Miles pick up a bit of confidence, General Nora Mulyer’s proven she’s capable of being the leader the Minutemen have needed for a long time. Even the Brotherhood of Steel have proven sympathetic to her cause, and hushed whispers in the darkest alleyways of Diamond City seem to say that they’re not the only allies the Minutemen can call upon as confrontation with the Institute looms.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>           We stand at the beginning the year 2288 on the cusp of history being written. Just like what had happened over fifty years ago, the Institute are no doubt preparing to re-enact the CPG Massacre. Their most recent attacks on the Boston Airport and Fort Independence have proven they’re not ready to let the Commonwealth face a bright future. There’s good news though: at both of these battles, the Institute lost. When things seemed dark for the Brotherhood’s airport base, Minutemen artillery rained down to save the day. When Fort Independence erupted into chaos, Brotherhood forces converged on the location and evened the odds. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>          The Brotherhood and the Minutemen aren’t the only forces realizing we’re all better off united. After the spike in Institute activity, sources in Bunker Hill and Goodneighbor report that both Moira Kessler of Bunker Hill and Mayor Hancock of Goodneighbor are willing to parley with the Minutemen. With almost every small settlement in the Commonwealth backing the Minutemen, having more of the larger players working with General Mulyer could see the restoration of the CPG in our day. Most of us in the Commonwealth would agree that if we ever made it to this point, it would be the best thing to happen to this place since the bombs fell. There’s only one settlement that doesn’t seem interested in flying the Minutemen flag: Mayor McDonough’s made it clear he doesn’t intend to back the Minutemen. Despite the mayor’s claims that this is a measure to ensure Diamond City’s autonomy, one can’t help but wonder if not every leader in the Commonwealth sees the new Minutemen for what they are: our greatest hope. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>         Then again, one can’t help but wonder a lot of things about a Mayor that has stood in opposition to the best interests of Diamond City and the Commonwealth. Perhaps some day Diamond City will get to enjoy the benefits of standing united with the rest of the Commonwealth. Until then, I can only wish the Minutemen the best of luck with things to come.</em>
</p><p>         “Goodneighbor and Bunker Hill,” Nora mused, packing up the last of the power armor station. “We’re moving up in the world”.</p><p>          “The Minutemen are making waves,” Preston smiled. “Once we’ve finished with the Institute, we’re going to have to pay those settlements a visit too. You know what it would mean to the people of the Commonwealth if we were to finally get the CPG running?”</p><p>          “There’s a lot that could be done with a unified Commonwealth”.</p><p>          “Our next big project, huh General? The Minutemen go on a big city tour…”</p><p>          Sealing the lid on the final box with a hammer and some nails, Nora pensively stared at the crate for a moment.</p><p>         “Why wait?”</p><p>         “General?” Preston said confusedly.</p><p>         “I know, but why wait? United we stand, right? I have to pass the urban areas anyway to get back to Sanctuary”.</p><p>         “I thought Maxson wanted you to wait on standby until the Brotherhood war machine was done”.</p><p>         “That’ll take a while,” Nora sighed. “I might as well get Bunker Hill and Goodneighbor behind us while he’s working on that. The sooner they’ve joined us, the more we can help each other. I know there’s still room to work with the Brotherhood, but I’d rather not take any chances”.</p><p>         “I see. What’s Sanctuary got to do with any of this, though?”</p><p>         “Before I see Shaun again, I want to go home again one last time. There’s something I need to do. MacCready told me I ought to think about myself for once, Preston. I thought about it long and hard and realized that if I picked one thing I’d do for myself, it would involve my returning to Sanctuary”.</p><p>         “I’m going with you”.</p><p>         “No. I’ll take MacCready. Think you could oversee the troops for me one last time?” She looked at him sternly. “It’s important, and I won’t be long”.</p><p>         “And you’ll be in good hands. Maybe take Deacon or Danse too?”</p><p>         “Deacon should stay here and help you,” Nora said, thinking back to the vial of FEV cure still sitting in her desk. “Danse has something important I want him to take care of. We won’t worry about telling the Prydwen anything. I’ll probably be back before Maxson’s fury subsides anyway”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0047"><h2>47. The Hard Goodbye (Pt. 1)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 47: In which Nora says goodbye to someone dear.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>THE HARD GOODBYE (PT. 1)</h1><p>
  <em>“Yeah, one of us gets too drunk and calls about a hundred times/so who you been calling, baby, nobody could take my place/when you looking at those strangers, hope to God you see my face” – 5 Seconds of Summer, “Youngblood”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            The afternoon of the 15<sup>th</sup> saw Nora, MacCready, and Duncan all arrive at Bunker Hill. There was a pile of synth bodies off in one corner of the settlement, with several townspeople sitting around, dismantling the machinery into copper, plastic, and circuitry. A few Brotherhood forces were still patrolling the area. The marketplace had resumed normal activity, though Stockton was now standing at the counter of the stall that held the cellar door behind it.</p><p>            “General!” He smiled as Nora approached his stall. “A word?”</p><p>            “How’s…uh, <em>business</em> holding up, Stockton?”</p><p>            “The attack certainly wasn’t good for business, but your help saw a lot of my inventory saved. I’ve had to be extra careful re-organizing caravans, but I can report no loss in critical goods”.</p><p>            “That’s good,” Nora smiled. The synths she’d helped had gotten out safely. “I’m glad to hear that”.</p><p>            “Sounds like the second nuclear bomb came through Bunker Hill,” MacCready asked, watching Duncan look at the armored Brotherhood units in awe.</p><p>            “You have no idea,” Nora sighed. “Hell of a day, that”.</p><p>            “With the Brotherhood hanging around afterwards, it’s been stressful. They’ve been insistent on checking cargo that passes in and out. I had to send your caravan hands up to Sanctuary with a different caravan”. Stockton leaned in closer before whispering, “<em>that</em>’s how I got them out of here without suspicion, so if anyone asks…”</p><p>            “Right, right. You don’t even have to worry. Me, turn down having one of the wealthiest caravanner in the Commonwealth? Your people are welcome at Minutemen settlements anytime. Speaking of which, Stockton, I’m looking for Moira Kessler?”</p><p>            “Moira, yes,” Stockton said knowingly, pointing out the front door. “Go back the way you came and make a right. Hers is the second shack. You’ll see lots of Brotherhood soldiers around there. Some of them are there for the medic next door, and some of them have been trying to convince Kessler to increase trading output to the Boston Airport. Since Bunker Hill doesn’t belong to the Minutemen, there are some soldiers who feel it’s fair game to use intimidation here”.</p><p>            <em>I really hope the Brotherhood haven’t moved on to Goodneighbor</em>, Nora thought to herself, heading to Kessler’s shack with MacCready and Duncan following behind her. As she approached the group of Brotherhood soldiers heckling the woman who was presumably Moira Kessler, Nora found herself remembering that she was not currently within Maxson’s good graces.</p><p>            <em>Great, if these guys know he’s pissed at me…worse, they think I’m still at ---</em> One of the Brotherhood Paladins turning around and noticing Nora stopped her train of thought.</p><p>            “Hey! Mulyer?! Stop right there!” He yelled. <em>Oh no</em>, Nora gulped. MacCready found himself moving to set Duncan down, just in case things suddenly got ugly.</p><p>            “I KNEW IT!” The Paladin yelled, walking over to her and pointing at her ring. “The Elder <em>did</em> pop the question! See, Knight? I wasn’t lying! You owe me fifty caps!”</p><p>            “Wait,” MacCready raised an eyebrow. “What?”</p><p>            “Oh,” Nora mentioned. “I’d almost forgotten about that”. Turning around so MacCready could see her hands clearly, she extended both fingers out to show that she was now wearing <em>two</em> wedding bands, one on each hand.</p><p>            “That, er…escalated quickly, General”.</p><p>            “Diplomacy is weird,” Nora remarked, while the Paladin behind her counted up his newfound pocket money before getting Nora’s attention again. “Pleasure to see you, Knight-Captain. What brings you to Bunker Hill?”</p><p>            “Diplomacy,” Nora said simply. “Don’t forget, I’m also the General”.</p><p>            “Holy shit!” Kessler said, climbing down from the stairs leading to her shack to greet Nora. “I haven’t even sent that message yet! You people are <em>good</em>”.</p><p>            “You can thank Publick Occurrences for that one. I’m actually on my way to Diamond City for business reasons. Figured I’d make a stop here since the rumor mill says Bunker Hill wants to join the Minutemen?”</p><p>            “Lady,” Kessler said, almost shaking in her boots. “You have some seriously powerful friends. If it’ll keep us on their good side, consider yourself to have the run of the place”.</p><p>            “Woah, Kessler,” Nora gulped, “I’m not looking to take the whole town from you. I’m just looking to muster some support for the Minutemen? Caps? Few caravans, maybe?”</p><p>            “Kid, whatever you want, <em>please</em> just get these guys to quit harassing me!”</p><p>            “You heard the woman,” Nora shot the Paladin a side glance. “A Minutemen flag flying over the settlement means you honor our deal. We’ll talk trade percentages when we don’t have to deal with the Institute”.</p><p>#</p><p>            “Most people wouldn’t dream of bringing their kids to Goodneighbor if they had no other choice,” Nora mentioned to MacCready as the trio walked into Goodneighbor’s front door.</p><p>            “Most people don’t have connections here like Robert Joseph MacCready,” MacCready chuckled, helping Duncan wave hello at Daisy while the group approached the Massachusetts State House. Two members of Hancock’s neighborhood watch were already positioned at the front door. One of them, non-ghoulified, looked over at Duncan and smiled.</p><p>            “MacCready! Glad to see you got that tike of yours all fixed up”.</p><p>            “Had a little help from the Commonwealth Minutemen,” MacCready smiled. “Came back when I was done with Duncan to say thank you”.</p><p>            “Kids are extra mouths to feed, MacCready. Extra caps too. You in the market for a little work? Malcolm Latimer came into town with a tall order: wants Diamond City’s Paul Pembroke rubbed out for shooting Nelson Latimer. Something about a chem deal gone wrong. Could buy the two of you a house in Diamond City for how much Malcolm wants, and I can’t think of a better sharp-shooter”.</p><p>            “No thanks,” MacCready said. “Already got work lined up. I’m actually here on business. Mayor Hancock wants to meet the General of the Minutemen. Tell him she’s here”. Once the trio had been ushered into the State House and to Hancock’s meeting room, they were greeted by the famed ghoul mayor himself.</p><p>            “I’ll be damned,” Hancock smiled. “Last time I saw you, I thought you were just another drifter coming in from the rain. If I’d have known Finn was heckling the General of the goddamned Minutemen, I wouldn’t have stopped at two stabs. You’ve been busy fighting for the little man, being a good neighbor. Occasionally kicking the Institute in the balls too, from what I hear. I respect that. I gotta ask, though, why the Brotherhood of Steel?</p><p>            “I’ve always been good at getting people to get along,” Nora said simply. “Getting the Brotherhood of Steel to play nice with the Minutemen and the Railroad’s a tall order, but when you have that kind of firepower to work with, wouldn’t it be worth a try?”</p><p>            “Under normal circumstances I’d want to know what you smoked, sister, so I could turn it down. <em>Rare</em> for me to give decent chems that kind of treatment. However, the fact that we’re even having this conversation: let’s just say I’ve heard enough about you to know you’re not bullshitting me. Brotherhood of Steel likes to tout all that crap about ‘preserving humanity’. Usually that means synths, ghouls, and most other freaks wind up in their firing lines. I thought for sure Wiseman and the rest of the Slog were done for when they told me the Brotherhood were poking around. Then, get this, I hear they put in a complaint to the Minutemen and the Brotherhood <em>honored</em> it and leaves them in peace? Who the hell did you kill to pull that shit off?”</p><p>            “No one”.</p><p>            “Scary,” Hancock laughed, offering Nora an inhaler of jet and scowling at her polite decline. “That’s not the only thing I’ve heard about you. A couple of your caravans come through here too, y’know. Usually they just stop by to refuel and buy some pick-me-ups. Occasionally there might be some, er…<em>smuggling </em>involved. <em>Almost</em>-human trafficking. Some mutual friends of ours tell me you’ve been helping them help others stay free. Craziest thing I heard from this one guy who worked in the Castle basement? He was scarce on the details, but I guess the Brotherhood’s head honcho found out about a package you’ve been hiding from him? Whole place should have been shot up, and instead you’re all still breathing and the Brotherhood’s still allied with you. Anyone who says you joined forces with the Brotherhood just to gain some clout are all dead wrong, because no ordinary militia General can pull something like that off. You’re a <em>freak</em>, but from one freak to another, that just puts you on my ‘nice list’. You feel me?”</p><p>            “I might. I hear Goodneighbor might be interested in supporting the Minutemen”.</p><p>            “Depends on what that entails. We’re not turning over half our cuts to you and bumping elbows with the Brotherhood, are we?”</p><p>            “I can keep the Brotherhood out,” Nora asked. “No money required. Goodneighbor’s good at keeping people hidden, right?”</p><p>            “Doll, this is <em>the</em> place to go if you’re running from something”.</p><p>            “So if I ask you to fly the Minutemen flag and help the Railroad <em>keep</em> hiding runaways, even after the Institute’s gone in exchange for keeping Goodneighbor…well, <em>Goodneighbor</em>, like it is now, would you consider that a good deal?”</p><p>            “Where’s the catch? You appoint a new mayor? We stop with the prostitution and the chem deals?”</p><p>            “Well, I <em>would </em>like you to ensure that Triggermen gangs aren’t shooting up my other settlements, but other than that,” Nora trailed off for a moment before deciding on the words, “Goodneighbor’s of the people, for the people”.</p><p>            “Nothing else?” Hancock laughed. “This is almost too easy”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Geneva was trying to close down the office for the night when General Mulyer arrived at the Diamond City Mayor’s Office to see Mayor McDonough.</p><p>            “I’m sorry, do you have an appointment?”</p><p>            “No, but do you think I could make one? It can be tomorrow sometime, I know it’s late,” Nora explained.</p><p>            “I’ll see if I can pencil you in,” Geneva nodded. “Name, preferred time, and reason for visit, please?”</p><p>            “General Mulyer of the Commonwealth Minutemen, anytime tomorrow, we want Diamond City to reconsider its stance on the Minutemen so I came to parley. Did I need to provide anything else?”</p><p>            “I’m not sure the Mayor will consider this request considering he’s made his stance on the Minutemen quite clear to petitioners. Normally I wouldn’t even attempt to get this request approved but you <em>are</em> the General. I’ll see what I can do. Beyond that, I can’t help you, unless you want a housing permit”.</p><p>            “I’ll be at the Dugout Inn for most of my visit. Gotta make a few stops around town tomorrow though, so I can’t wait on the Mayor too long. I guess I <em>will </em>take that housing permit though”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Nora had let MacCready and Duncan sleep in so that she could stop in and see Piper at Publick Occurrences. The infamous reporter was wishing her little sister a good day at school when the Vault-Suit clad General approached the news office.</p><p>            “B-Blue?!” Piper said in shock, rushing over and giving Nora a hug. “Jesus, it’s been so long! Your face! What happened?!”</p><p>            “I’ve been a busy woman”.</p><p>            “I can <em>see</em> that! Wow, that Vault Suit got a major upgrade! The Minutemen have been getting crazy!”</p><p>            “Actually, <em>this</em> was a present from the Brotherhood”.</p><p>            “Yeah, I hear you’ve been making <em>lots</em> of friends, Blue. I won’t question it. I know the Brotherhood and the Minutemen have some kind of deal going on. I know enough about the way you operate not to worry about you too much. <em>Your son</em>, where is he?”</p><p>            “He’s…<em>not here</em>, Piper”.</p><p>            “Does the Institute still have him?”</p><p>            “Yes, Piper. It’s complicated. <em>Very</em> complicated, and I’m not feeling up for an interview right now. I just figured while I was in town on Minutemen business that I’d stop by and see you and Nick”.</p><p>            “I’ll take a raincheck, Blue, although I <em>demand</em> the tell-all when the Institute’s been given the boot. C’mon, we need to go to Valentine’s! Nick just got done with this <em>weird</em> case. You’ll never believe what Doc Crocker did…” Before long, they’d hurried past the marketplace stalls and down the alleyway that led to Nick’s office. The detective was busy typing away case notes on a typewriter when Piper and Nora burst through the door.</p><p>            “Hey, office is closed unti— <em>oh my god</em>”. Nick immediately stopped what he was doing, standing up from his chair and looking at Nora in amazement.</p><p>            “Hey Nick,” Nora smiled softly. “How much do I owe you for the case?”</p><p>            “I take it you finally found him,” Nick said. “I heard the Institute gave you hell at Fort Independence, although that scar looks a bit too old for something that just happened a couple of weeks ago”.</p><p>            “I get insecure about it, you know,” Nora scolded Piper and Nick. “Besides, you should see the other guy”.</p><p>            “I bet,” Nick said, smirking. “So how is the little guy?”</p><p>            “Like I said to Piper, it’s complicated”.</p><p>            “The Institute weren’t letting go of him, huh? Do you at least know why they took him?”<br/>            “Pre-War DNA, you were right Nick”.</p><p>            “That still doesn’t explain why they left everyone else behind”.</p><p>            “Let’s just say they didn’t need anymore than one baby and one frozen parent in storage”.</p><p>            “Jesus, and I thought it was cruel of them to dump me in a trash heap when they were done with me,” Nick shook his head. “At least it seems like you’re holding up alright”.</p><p>            <em>If only you knew, Nick</em>.</p><p>            “I’m doing as well as I can,” Nora said stoically. “While the Brotherhood and Minutemen are making final preparations, I figured I’d get some loose ends tied up. I got Goodneighbor and Bunker Hill to join the Minutemen. Tried talking to McDonough; we’ll see about him”.</p><p>            “Fat chance,” Piper muttered. “Can’t say I don’t appreciate you <em>trying, </em>but I’m convinced he’s playing for the Institute”.</p><p>            “Like I said, we’ll see with him. I can always come back. Diamond City’s not my last stop”.</p><p>            “More loose ends? You have been busy,” Nick murmured.</p><p>            “Last one, actually. I need to head to Vault 111”.</p><p>            “What’s all the way back there?” Piper asked, while Nick thought for a moment before realizing, “<em>I take it this is a family affair</em>?”</p><p>            “I can’t leave him there,” Nora said somberly. “Everything that’s happened with our family’s been such a shit-show lately. I don’t know what happens when I go back to the Institute again. I figured while I still have time I’d head to the Vault and say goodbye”.</p><p>            “When do we leave?” Piper asked.</p><p>            “Huh?”</p><p>            “When do we leave, she said,” Nick said sternly. “C’mon, at least take one of us with you. You really shouldn’t do that alone”.</p><p>            “I…” Nora said softly. Nate’s voice echoed in her head, <em>“they’re right you know</em>”.</p><p>            <strong><em>“I get so tired of hearing you Nate, when I know I can’t have you…”</em></strong></p><p>He was silent again. She was starting to prefer it that way. Another voice cut through her consciousness: “<em>Uh…Nora?” </em>It was Piper, waving her hand in front of Nora’s face.</p><p>            “Earth to the General, kid,” Nick said. “See, this is probably <em>why</em> it’s best if one of us goes too. I’d better tell Ellie to clear my appointments today”.</p><p>            “I’ll tell Nat I’ll be stepping out for a bit”.</p><p>            “I…” Nora sighed. “I’ll tell MacCready. We’re waiting on the Mayor today, so be ready tomorrow morning”.</p><p>#</p><p>            Mayor McDonough had brushed her off for the rest of the day, prompting Nora to leave Diamond City without any further gains for the Minutemen other than a property slated to be used as a warehouse. The key to Home Plate was kept firmly in her pocket, with Nora and MacCready talking about various different ideas for how to furnish the property once the Minutemen were better able to bargain with Diamond City. Piper and Nick followed along, both occasionally waving at Duncan as he turned around and wave shyly at the two new faces while holding MacCready’s hand. The road back to Sanctuary from the great green jewel had changed a bit since Nora saw it last. With so many settlements and a Brotherhood outpost along that one major road, it saw a high amount of caravans and travelers compared to the rest of the Commonwealth. Fortifications, oil lamps, and even a couple of waypoints had sprung up. It was no pre-War highway, but the lonely road had come a long way from Nora’s first venture.</p><p>            Sanctuary had also changed. The most destroyed houses had been demolished and replaced with sturdier shacks. Every home was inhabited, and there were even sighs of heavy construction to set down foundations for new houses and erect walls around the island settlement, a la Bunker Hill. When Nora had first brought Preston and the other settlers to Sanctuary, it had resulted in a total population of five, not including Nora and Codsworth. Everyone except MacCready and Duncan (who had never seen Sanctuary in its more desolate form) found themselves surprised to see that Sanctuary was now almost as populated as Diamond City.</p><p>            “How do we get to Vault 111 to here?” Piper asked. Nora’s eyes fixated on the fateful path leading up to a certain hill. The last time she’d gone this way had been before the bombs had dropped, when the world was still green. Thanks to the Brotherhood, Vertibird sounds could be heard nearby. Since this settlement was so busy, it made sense that the Brotherhood would frequent it so often.</p><p>            “You three go on ahead,” MacCready said. “I think Duncan needs a potty break. I’ll see if I can find a shovel”.</p><p>            “Sturges would be the man to ask,” Nora said, pointing to the Rosa house. “He’s the one in the overalls with the goggles, welding that…whatever that is, together. Matter of fact, let’s see if he might have a sheet”. While MacCready took Duncan to an outhouse to use the bathroom, Nora approached the Minutemen’s chief engineer.</p><p>            “Sturges?”</p><p>            “Well I’ll be,” Sturges turned around to see Nora’s iconic Vault Suit. “Not every day we get to see you around anymore, General. How you holdin’ up?”</p><p>            “It’s been rough, I’ll admit”.</p><p>            “Yeah, you’ve got some heavy bags under your eyes. I might have something to cheer you up though, got a minute?”</p><p>            “Sure. I need a couple shovels and a sheet while I’m here too. Maybe a flat bed or a pallet or something if you have it?”</p><p>            “Sure General,” Sturges said as he walked Nora out of the main house and to a nearby workshop, while Nick and Piper stayed behind. At the back of the warehouse, Nora noticed a new set of power armor secured at a station. It was unlike anything she’d ever seen, painted in the Minutemen colors with a sturdier build than anything she’d seen even among the Brotherhood of Steel’s arsenal.</p><p>            “I couldn’t believe I’d managed to find a set of X-01 armor locked up near Lexington,” Sturges laughed. “I’ve gone over this suit with a fine-tooth comb. I figured the General of the Minutemen could use something <em>special</em>, y’know?”</p><p>            “It’s pretty damned amazing, Sturges,” Nora said pensively.</p><p>            “It’s not quite done yet, General. I still need to tweak some mods on it, but then again, you might want to touch it up a bit yourself, huh? Should I keep working on it or send it out to the Castle?”</p><p>            “I’ll take it back when me when I’m done here. I’ve got at least one brilliant idea for it”.</p><p>            “And that is?”</p><p>            “Tell you later. Now, about that sheet and the shovels?”</p><p>            “Whatcha up to?”</p><p>            “Holding a funeral”.</p><p>            “<em>Here</em>?” Sturges said. “Who died?”</p><p>            “By Vault 111. This might be the last time I get to come here. I figured I’d make it count”.</p><p>            “I…I see,” Sturges sighed, walking Nora back out of the workshop. He signaled Piper and Nick to follow along, with MacCready and Duncan soon following after them. At a newer building meant to serve as a storehouse, Sturges managed to find a few shovels and a large sheet of canvas cloth.</p><p>            “I’m sure I have a flatbed somewhere that we used to haul concrete around. I’ll have to find it while I get some men to help with the hole”.</p><p>            “You don’t have to do that, Sturges”.</p><p>            “The hell I don’t,” Sturges scoffed. “This town wouldn’t be standing if you hadn’t led us to it. We’re all in this together, General”.</p><p>            “The whole Commonwealth’s got your back, Blue,” Piper smiled softly, trying to be comforting. “I don’t think you’ve realized it yet, but you’ve come a long way since you left that Vault”.</p><p>            “And the whole Commonwealth’s a lot better off for it,” MacCready added, taking one of the shovels.</p><p>            “I’m with them, but I’m not going to butter you up about it. We have work to do,” Nick said, pointing out a flatbed with some concrete blocks still on it towards the back of the room. “C’mon, let’s get this one done”. Sturges called out to several workers constructing a pylon to leave their project behind and help out with the burial. Before long, Piper, Nick, and Nora had dragged the flatbed up the hill while MacCready and several other settlers began digging a hole on a section of land just over the footbridge leading to the Vault. Sanctuary had yet to delegate land for a cemetery; this spot would have to do. A woman stayed behind with Duncan to keep him occupied while the work was done. The young boy smiled obliviously to the scene unfolding just beyond where he’d been given some toys to play with. As a Vertibird approached Sanctuary and deployed its landing gear just east of Sanctuary’s cul-de-sac, Duncan picked up a toy truck and flew it over his head, imitating the aircraft.</p><p>#</p><p>            Poor timing had caused Excalibur to land at Sanctuary in the middle of a funeral. When Maxson stepped out of the Vertibird and questioned a Minuteman guard patrolling the cul-de-sac, he found that General had made her way to Sanctuary due to the proceedings taking place. He wondered who it was that died. Surely it had to be someone important to warrant a wild goose chase around half the Commonwealth looking for one woman. When Kells called the Castle and informed them that the Sentinel Scott operation was complete, Maxson had been stunned to learn that Nora had left a couple of days prior. Annoyed, he followed Colonel Garvey’s instructions to head to Diamond City. That had been the last known place that the General had been seen.</p><p>            <em>Don’t forget she has Minutemen commitments</em>, he reminded himself. Right as his annoyance had cooled and he’d wandered into the city flanked by two power-armor clad sentries, he found renewed annoyance in a paper-girl who’d informed him that the General of the Minutemen had left to head to Sanctuary. Feigning kindness to buy a copy of <em>Publick Occurrences</em> (an admittedly decent newspaper), he’d stormed back to courtyard of Fenway Park to head to Sanctuary and confront Nora.</p><p>            <em>She has Brotherhood commitments too</em>.</p><p>            His mind flashed back to Danse. It had not been difficult to explain to the senior staff of the Prydwen that Danse was on a particular assignment for the Minutemen and would not be back for some time. A few questioned Maxson’s logic in allowing such a high-ranking field officer to be on loan for the Minutemen (aren’t there plenty of other soldiers for such a purpose?), but Maxson had managed to get away with being insistent and shutting down any room for discussion.</p><p>            <em>Like you should have done with her</em>, a voice reminded him in his head. He was already regretting allowing Danse and the Railroad to live. Acquiescing to Nora’s insane demand to allow all parties mercy meant that it was <em>his</em> head on the line if word ever got out that he’d been lenient to the enemy. Even the Last Maxson still reported to the High-Elders, and while Maxson’s youth marked him as a genius in the eyes of the Brotherhood, it also meant that he would not be seeing another promotion for quite some time. Though the West Coast Brotherhood were weaker in military might, they made up for it with generations of historical and political ties that the new frontier on the East couldn’t match. Kells reminded Maxson, in private, that this was one more reason to defeat the Institute, cement the Brotherhood’s hold on the Commonwealth, and produce a Maxson heir.</p><p>            When Maxson made his way over the footbridge, he saw a group of men digging a grave. Markings on the ground from some sort of cart could be seen leading up the footpath of the hill. Most of the gravediggers paid Maxson little attention, merely staring at him in amusement and wondering who he was. One man, a Minuteman officer, stopped digging and approached him.</p><p>            “Civi— I mean,” Maxson hesitated for a moment, trying to catch the rank insignia on the man’s unorthodox uniform.</p><p>            “Name’s MacCready”.</p><p>            “MacCready?” Elder Maxson found himself remembering that he’d heard the name before. “With respect, what’s your rank, soldier?”</p><p>            “Lieutenant,” MacCready said, still feeling the distinguished rank fit him clumsily like an untailored suit. Both he and Maxson could feel that he was <em>new</em> to officer life.</p><p>            “I don’t remember seeing you when I stopped by the Castle several days ago, and I thought the Castle only had two Lieutenants”.</p><p>            “Now they have three”. Momentary snark from MacCready was suddenly replaced with a flash of realization. “Hey! Wait a sec, <em>you’re</em> the big tin c— I mean, <em>you’re</em> Elder Maxson”.</p><p>            “I…” Maxson tried not to think about whatever it was that MacCready called him when he wasn’t around. “Yes. That’s me. Enough chit-chat. Where’s the General?”</p><p>            “Up at Vault 111. They went to go get her husband”.</p><p>            <em>At Vault 111? Oh. Him.</em> Maxson’s face betrayed no hint of confusion, jealousy, or dismay. To MacCready, he maintained an uncanny amount of stoicism, glancing up at the hill leading up to the Vault and then back down at the grave being dug for a man Maxson had heard so much about, but never met.</p><p>            “How long do you think this is going to take?” Maxson asked, finally figuring out what his next move would be as he glanced around the surrounding landscape further. No extra shovels appeared to be available, and standing around waiting didn’t seem like a good idea.</p><p>            “Oh for god’s sake,” MacCready scowled, misunderstanding. “I know the Brotherhood aren’t the patient type, but the woman just lost her husband! She takes a day of personal time between Minutemen and Brotherhood business to actually do something just for herself, and you just <em>have</em> to come in and ruin it with Brotherhood business, huh? Picking a fight with her at the Castle wasn’t enough, huh? Yeah, I know about that! Look, Maxson, the Institute aren’t going anywhere”.</p><p>            “That sentence should have been laden with curse words --- at least, that’s how I would have done it,” Maxson mumbled out loud, walking over to the riverbank and finding a particularly large stone. Despite the Brotherhood soldiers behind him rushing to prevent the Elder from sullying himself by touching the mud-crusted boulder, Maxson picked the stone up with ease and brought it to the grave, setting it down so that its clean side was facing up.</p><p>            “There,” Maxson grunted. “Since you’ve already got several men digging”.</p><p>            “You’re…<em>not</em> interrupting?” MacCready asked, baffled.</p><p>            “That would hardly be appropriate. Given the nature of my relationship with Nora Mulyer, however, neither would my staying to participate. I’m heading back to the Prydwen to wait for her there. Lieutenant, is there anything else on the agenda for the Minutemen the General needs to personally attend to?”</p><p>            “N-Not that I’m aware. We’re heading back to the Castle when this is over”. At these words, Maxson reached into one of his pockets and handed MacCready a Vertibird Grenade.</p><p>            “Just in case she didn’t think to pack any on her way here,” Maxson muttered. “I’ll authorize one lay-over stop at the Castle, as long as you make it quick”. The ground beneath their feet rumbled, signifying the Vault Door moving.</p><p>            “Time to go,” Maxson told his flanking soldiers, wiping dirt off of his flight suit.</p><p>            “Hey, wait!” MacCready said.</p><p>            “Make it quick, Lieutenant”.</p><p>            “I thought you were mad at her”.</p><p>            “She’s <em>far</em> too emotionally-driven for her own good”. There was a pause before Maxson added, “…but that’s an issue for another day”.</p><p>            “You should stay,” MacCready said timidly, wondering if it was even worth getting the last word in.</p><p>            “Are you joking? She’s already emotionally unstable. This is the <em>last</em> thing I need to be a part of”.</p><p>            “Maybe not <em>at</em> the funeral, right?” MacCready explained quickly, hearing the distant sound of a flatbed rolling down the hill. “But…speaking of relationships, you ought to support each other. I get not standing around while the proceedings are happening, but maybe don’t go too far, huh? I know I’m being a complete sap by saying this, but when it was my spouse I was saying goodbye too, I really needed a shoulder to cry on. Just saying”.</p><p>            “That’s only going to make things worse,” the Elder muttered, ending the conversation by walking away before MacCready could say another word. Within moments of Maxson and the Brotherhood soldiers disappearing behind the houses, Nora and the others made it down to the freshy-dug grave.</p><p>            The funeral was quick and simple. Carefully and wordlessly with some spare ropes, Nora and the others lowered the body to rest within the opening in the ground. Nick and Piper questioned giving a eulogy for a man they only knew through Nora’s memories of him. All attempts at any words were silent when Nora walked up to the makeshift grave marker and touched it for a moment. Unbeknownst to the rest of the attendees, she was wrestling with Nate in her mind one final time.</p><p>            <em>So this is it.</em></p><p>
  <em>            <strong>I got tired of hearing you remind me I’m a crazy woman, Nate.</strong></em>
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  <em>War breaks people, Nora. You’ve held up a lot better than people give you credit for.</em>
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  <em>            <strong>Even in death, you’re so outrageously optimistic. I think you set Codsworth’s personality metrics too high on purpose.</strong></em>
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  <em>You needed the optimism. You needed something to cling to all this time. Whether I stayed or I’m just a figment of your imagination, I’ll let you decide. I’ll tell you this much, considering everything after what you’d been through with Shaun and I, well, if it were me I know what I’d think.</em>
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  <em>            <strong>But it’s not you. It’s me. It’s always been me stuck here in the future without you, all alone.</strong></em>
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  <strong>
    
  </strong>
  <em>I’m sorry, Nora. You should know one thing though. Crazy or not, you’re the best thing that happened to this place in a long time, just like you were the best thing that happened to me. All the people around are proof of that, even if you don’t believe it.</em>
</p><p>Silence.</p><p>
  <em>            I love you.</em>
</p><p>Silence again. In her mind, she called out to him once again, tired of hearing him but not wanting him to go. There were no answers.</p><p>            <strong><em>Nate?</em></strong></p><p><strong><em>            Nate?! </em></strong>She could feel a few tears sliding down her face as she backed away from the grave and stared at it in stunned silence. Nick Valentine cleared his throat as a gesture for those holding shovels to close the grave over the wrapped body in the cloth sheet. Once the earth had taken Nate back, Piper took Nora gently by one shoulder and helped her return to the town.</p><p>            It was a bit of a shock to see Maxson’s Vertibird still parked on the other side of town, and to see the jacket-clad Elder dabbing his uniform to look presentable while smoking a cigarette and waiting for Nora.</p><p>            “Wh-what are you doing here?!” Nora said in shock.</p><p>            “Finding you. Sentinel Scott Prescott was a success. The last of Prime’s bombs are being loaded unto him as we speak. We’re ready to begin our final assault on the Institute”.</p><p>            “I don’t think this is the time f—”</p><p>            Piper’s sentence was interrupted by Maxson. “I know. <em>It’s not the time.</em> I thought about that the whole time I was standing here”.</p><p>            “He’s right,” Nora said, still in a daze. “The Institute won’t wait for us”.</p><p>            “If they would, I’d probably be halfway to the Prydwen,” Maxson groaned, before patting her on the shoulder.</p><p>            “Look, Knight-Captain. We have our disagreements. I’m not backing down from my decision and I know you’re not backing down from yours. We’re responsible for two different groups with two wildly different philosophies. Sometimes making things work out between our collective agencies means that we’re just going to have to agree to disagree. We can discuss our disagreements later when we don’t have the Institute to contend with anymore, so for now let us put aside our differences and—wha?!” Everyone, including Arthur --- <em>especially</em> Arthur --- was caught off guard to see Nora catch him in a slightly tearful embrace.</p><p>            “I’m sorry I lied to you. On that front, I was wrong, Arthur”.</p><p>            “I, I don’t…fine. apology accepted…This isn’t the time to…<em>why are you soldiers giggling?!”</em> Maxson glared at the two sentries posted to him, causing both of them to back away nervously. He hoped to hell and back his face wasn’t going red, but the warmth of his cheeks against the cold February air made it clear that this was a stupid thing to ask the Creator for. Subconsciously, he found one hand holding Nora to him protectively for a moment before regaining composure over himself and backing away from her a bit as the military leader in him took over.</p><p>            “Your Lieutenant has a signal grenade. Head to the Castle and get your best men to the Prydwen immediately. That’s an order”.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm kinda disappointed this story won't be 50 chapters.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0048"><h2>48. The Hard Goodbye (Pt. 2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 48: In which Nora says goodbye to someone else.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>THE HARD GOODBYE (PT. 2)</h1><p>
  <em>“I can say I hope it will be worth what I give up/if I could stand up mean for all the things that I believe” – Santigold “L.E.S Artistes”</em>
</p><hr/><p>            On a Vertibird, clad in X-01 power armor, Nora arrived at the Castle alongside MacCready, Duncan, Piper, and Nick. Preston and Deacon were waiting for her with news of the Prydwen having already radioed.</p><p>            “I know, I know,” Nora said, hurriedly getting off to aircraft and mentioning to the Lancer that she wouldn’t be long. “Maxson already found me. We’re just making a pit-stop”.</p><p>            “Institute’s sure to make a move on this place with Liberty Prime knocking at the door,” Piper said. “I’ll help any way I can”.</p><p>            “Me too,” Nick smiled. “I’m not out of your employ until this Institute business is done and the file’s closed, remember?”</p><p>            “Gonna be a hell of a case file,” Nora said, looking at the armory. “Preston, did you-know-who get back?”</p><p>            “Yep. Made the delivery and came back missing a power armor leg”.</p><p>            “Right. Deacon and MacCready are coming with me to the Prydwen. Preston, we need every available Minuteman in the northwest at C.I.T. If I don’t make it out of this one, congrats on your promotion to General. I need to swap some gear”. Hurrying down to the basement, she approached the Railroad’s hidden door to greet Deacon and Danse.</p><p>            “So this is the big one, huh?” Deacon said.</p><p>            “Yeah. Deacon. Head up with me, we’re leaving now. I just need to—” her sentence trailed off as she saw Danse fixing his T-51 armor.</p><p>            “Danse”. The moment she said that, she removed herself from her power armor while Danse finished what he was doing and turned around.</p><p>            “Mulyer,” Danse smiled, turning around to report to Nora on his recent mission to the Glowing Sea. “The mission was successful. Virgil’s injected himself with the prototy—”</p><p>            He stared at the X-01 suit in amazement (and slight jealousy).</p><p>            “What’s that?”</p><p>            “That?” Mulyer said quickly, exchanging gear and ammunition with Deacon. “That’s yours, Danse”.</p><p>            “Wait?! <em>Mine?!</em>”</p><p>            “Put it on and help Preston with whatever he needs. If this doesn’t go as planned, he’s going to need a good number two man. I need to head to the Prydwen”.</p><p>            “I…uh. Roger that,” Danse said, snapping out of momentary shock.</p><p>            “I dunno about ‘go as planned’,” Deacon advised, trying to inject some optimism into the conversation, “but we’ll make this work, y’know”. Unburdened of the power armor, Nora and Deacon rushed back up to the waiting Vertibird (with MacCready, sans Duncan, already in tow).</p><p>            “Gotta admit boss, I’m a little surprised you didn’t switch Preston for MacCready,” Deacon said, looking at the former Gunner and adding in, “no offense”.</p><p>            “Is it the kid?” MacCready asked.</p><p>            “It’s the kid”.</p><p>            “If I didn’t deem Preston my successor, I would have taken him,” Nora acknowledged, looking at the oblivious Lancer-Sergeant who was flying the trio to the Prydwen. “With Danse <em>busy</em>, it comes down to you two”.</p><p>            “I’ve made my peace with that,” MacCready smiled. “Duncan knows his ol’ man can’t be there all the time. Castle’s the safest place for him until we’re done with the Institute. Your friend Piper already told me she’d keep an extra eye on him while I’m gone”.</p><p>            “Scabbard, this is Argon,” the Lancer could be heard saying over the radio. “We’re within range of home base. Permission to dock?”</p><p>            “Permission denied,” Kells’ voice could be heard back on the radio. “New orders for you, Argon. The General and her associates will land at the ground helipad on the airport instead. The landing pad is cleared and awaiting your arrival, Argon”.</p><p>            “Roger that, Scabbard”. Once the Vertibird had landed at the airport, the Minutemen were ushered off the aircraft and to the tarmac where a fully assembled Liberty Prime was waiting for them. The giant metal robot towered over the ground base of the Boston Airport, fully operational and sporting Mark 28 nuclear bombs as munitions on its back. Nora felt a grim uneasiness at the prospect that perhaps one day, she might find herself in Prime’s line of fire.</p><p>            “So this is the Brotherhood’s war machine,” Deacon said worriedly. “Let’s hope they use it sparingly”.</p><p>            “Let’s hope it finds a way into the Institute,” MacCready added, “or this is going to be a short war”. While the two men continued looking on at the metal machine in awe, Nora climbed up to a control station mounted at the opposite end of the tarmac, where Proctor Ingram and Doctor Li were waiting for her.</p><p>            “Well, this is it,” Ingram sighed. “The moment of truth”.</p><p>            “I knew you were busy, but <em>damn</em>”.</p><p>            “I wasn’t just reassembling this thing,” Ingram continued. “We’ve preprogrammed Liberty Prime’s battle co-ordinates into his navigational processor. As soon as he’s under his own power, he’ll head straight for the Institute. Elder Maxson wants you to follow and make sure he arrives at the C.I.T in one piece”.</p><p>            “Pretty big job for one woman. Am I working with a specific unit?”</p><p>            “Mainly your own men, though I’m sure the Brotherhood won’t leave you completely alone on your way there. Command beyond Maxson had a bit to do with it. If the Minutemen and the Brotherhood are really in it for the long run, they’re willing to place a bit of extra trust in you for good faith. A lot of naysayers to your alliance are waiting on the events of today, so <em>don’t</em> screw this up”.</p><p>            “I’m surprised they trust any single Knight this much, even me”.</p><p>            “They don’t. Per the High-Elder, you’re a Paladin now. Maxson didn’t tell you?”</p><p>            “I’m sure he was quite <em>occupied</em>,” Nora said. “Anyway, about Liberty Prime…”</p><p>            “Right. I’ve checked every wire and every bolt on the big guy. We’re plugging in the agitator as we speak. All we need to do is turn on his reactor and cross our fingers. I’m going to have Doctor Li transfer power as soon as my scribes give me the green light to start him up, and once <em>you</em> give me the go-ahead that you’re ready”.</p><p>            Ingram’s normally sarcastic exterior gave way for a moment to something more cordial.</p><p>           “Good luck, Paladin. Ad Victoriam”. A few moments passed while the Prime Scribes finished plugging the Beryllium Agitator into Prime’s chassis. Once Nora alerted Deacon and MacCready to what they’d be doing next and the machine was ready for the transfer of power, Doctor Li began the process of engaging Liberty Prime for combat.</p><p>            “LIBERTY PRIME, FULL SYSTEM ANALYSIS: ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL; WEAPONS HOT”.</p><p>            The robot’s arms began to move as it tore down a section of the gantry blocking its ability to move.</p><p>            “MISSION: THE DESTRUCTION OF ANY AND ALL CHINESE COMMUNISTS. PROBABILITY OF CHINESE VICTORY: IMPOSSIBLE”.</p><p>            “PROCEEDING TO TARGET COORDINATES”.  As Liberty Prime came to life and began marching to the C.I.T ruins, the sounds of Brotherhood soldiers saluting and cheering in the background could be heard. The machine moved quickly, but not so quickly that Nora and the others could not keep up.</p><p>            “We’re got a bit of a hike ahead of us,” Deacon lamented a little.</p><p>            “Somehow I kinda doubt we’ll be doing a lot of shooting on the way there,” MacCready said. He was proven right when the group came upon East Boston Preparatory school. A couple of daring raiders had decided to attack the robot, only to watch in horror as the bullets from their pipe pistols ricocheted off of Prime’s legs as though they were marbles being flung at a concrete wall. To put a fine point on the matter, Prime turned its head and shot a laser from its eyes which turned the attacking raiders into red-hot piles of dust.</p><p>            “Oh man!” MacCready said. “Why were we needed again?”</p><p>            “EMBRACE DEMOCRACY OR YOU WILL BE ERADICATED”.</p><p>            “I’m not sure what democracy is,” MacCready joked, “but I’m starting to think it’s a pretty good idea!”</p><p>            A bit further up the road, the reason for sending an escort force along with Liberty Prime became clear. A waiting group of synths, heavily armored and equipped with overcharged laser rifles, began shooting at the group. Though a momentary assist was needed while Prime’s CPU analyzed the attacking force, it soon became apparent that this was little more of an issue for the robot than the raiders had been.</p><p>            “COMMENCING TACTICAL ASSESSMENT: RED CHINESE THREAT DETECTED”. From Prime’s seemingly endless supply of munitions, one Mark 28 bomb dropped from its back to an arm. A moment later, the bomb was sent flying towards the group of attacking synths as though Prime had thrown a football. When the smoke cleared, Prime took a few steps forward before stopping and observing a ruined bridge.</p><p>            “OBSTRUCTION DETECTED. OVERLAND TRAVEL TO TARGET COMPROMISED. PROBABILITY OF MISSION HINDRANCE: THIRTY-TWO PERCENT. REVISED STRATEGEM INITIATED. AQUATIC TRANSIT PROTOCOL ACTIVATED. PROBABILITY OF MISSION HINDRANCE: ZERO PERCENT”.</p><p>            “That thing can <em>swim</em>?!” Deacon asked in amazement.</p><p>            “Probably better than I can,” Nora said, shaking her head. “We’d better scale that busted bridge. It might not tolerate Prime’s weight, but we can slip our way across and catch up”. Sure enough, crossing the bridge put them slightly behind Prime, although the group were still able to see him once they’d made it to the opposite shore. A large gang of super mutants had stopped Prime’s progression towards C.I.T. They were clearly more of an inconvenience than a problem, armed only with submachine guns, wooden boards, and dim wits. The presence of Brotherhood Vertibirds following overhead indicated that the possibility of Prime taking a route inaccessible to Nora. From the air, the miniguns each gunship was armed with offered Prime as little help as Nora and her men had. The sheer level of power Liberty Prime commanded was outrageous. Still, the duty-bound Brotherhood soldiers overhead began airdropping additional Knights to safeguard their primary objective while Nora caught up.</p><p>            The robot came to an unexpected stop at Bunker Hill, where it stood for a moment before assuming a salute before the monument and the perplexed settlers that called it home. Where the flag of the United States once flew, there was now a familiar blue and white banner. Liberty Prime didn’t seem to care.</p><p>           “MEMORIAL SITE RECOGNIZED. PATRIOTISM SUBROUTINES ENGAGED. HONORING THE FALLEN IS THE DUTY OF EVERY RED-BLOODED AMERICAN”.</p><p>           “Is that from the Brotherhood’s programming, or is that from back in your day?” Deacon asked.</p><p>           “I…I honesty don’t know!” Nora responded to Deacon’s joke as Liberty Prime (with additional escorting troops from the Brotherhood) continued down the road to the C.I.T. After crossing the next bridge and following the riverbank that led to where the campus lay, Nora felt a sense of dread when MacCready looked through his scope into the fog ahead of them and yelled to get everyone’s attention.</p><p>           “<em>Behemoth</em>!” Brotherhood or Minuteman, everyone in the group tensed and braced for their first real attack. MacCready was already aiming into the fog, attempting to slow the giant super mutant down as it lumbered straight towards Prime and the rest of the group with a fire hydrant for a club in one hand. The deep, low-pitched howl of the beast resonated through the air as its pace quickened from a crawl to a sprint. All the firepower that the entire escort squad threw at it didn’t seem to make a dent. Worse, as soon as the Behemoth reached Prime, it landed what appeared to be a solid hit as its club bashed against Prime’s right leg.</p><p>            Or so everyone had thought. In reality, the hit only <em>sounded</em> bad. As the Behemoth lifted its club in visible confusion to see Liberty Prime react as though nothing had happened, the giant machine reached down, picked up the Behemoth and promptly lifted the creature into the air as if it were a human picking up a small ragdoll. The once terrifying monster was now howling screams of <em>terror</em> as it found itself at the mercy of a much more powerful entity. Under Prime’s boast: “RED CHINESE INFILTRATOR UNIT ELIMINATED”, the group couldn’t hear the <em>crunch</em> as Prime’s massive hands crushed the Behemoth into a pink and green smear before throwing most of the monster’s remains into the riverbank. Nora did her best not to step into the few remaining bits of super mutant entrails as Prime continued on its way. One of the Behemoth’s eyeballs had been ejected from its skull, now lying on the pavement of the bridge, still somewhat glassy. Only when Prime finally reached the main courtyard of the C.I.T did Nora and her exhausted comrades find their first actual battle.</p><p>            The entire field glowed blue with repeated bursts of energy as every synth unit the Institute had at its disposal began being teleported into the courtyard to engage Liberty Prime. Luckily for the small escort group, Minutemen and Brotherhood reinforcements were already converging on the location. A massive exchange of red and blue laser fire began as synth units and Coursers faced off against Brotherhood laser rifles and Minutemen laser muskets sniping from further back.</p><p>            It had helped that the Minutemen had made a six-crank laser musket the standard armament for its troops. When Courser units attempted to overwhelm the Brotherhood, well-placed super-charged shots from Minutemen veterans served to protect the Capital Wasteland based army. The overwhelming numbers and power armor of the Brotherhood further helped to protect the Minutemen from the sheer volume of synths shooting at the smaller, less well-equipped militia. A few modified armored coats among Minutemen ‘veterans’ engaging the synths at closer range with miniguns and Gauss rifles indicated (to Nora) that perhaps the Brotherhood and the Minutemen were not the only two forces joining together to put an end to the Institute’s reign of terror. Perhaps an ‘intelligence agency’ wasn’t the only thing the Minutemen’s more shadowy contacts could muster up.</p><p>           For a moment, it seemed the synths were teleporting into the courtyard in too large of a number for this united front to keep up. A few graze wounds and the effects of exhaustion were quickly catching up with Nora. She felt her reflexes slowing and her vision blurring as several of the synths turned their attention to her and began to rush towards her.</p><p><em>           Fu—! </em>A sudden <em>wave</em> of laser fire hit the crowd of synths with pinpoint accuracy. The split-second between mortal fear and sudden relief saw a second wave of adrenaline hit Nora’s brain. She turned to see a familiar face, unarmored, sporting a Gatling Laser with his own two hands.</p><p>           “Y-you! How are you not in power armor?!” The fact that he could even lift such heavy machinery while also dodging Institute fire and sporting a certain heavy armored coat was astounding. She knew he was <em>strong, </em>but this was something deserving another word altogether.</p><p>           “I could ask you the same thing!” Elder Maxson yelled as he turned towards Prime and began firing at other synths in Prime’s general direction. Ever the military commander, he barked orders at both his forces and hers. “Throw everything you have at them! Prime’s mission must succeed!” A few more hellish minutes passed in a blur of continued warfare and fire before Prime’s voice finally broke out. The Institute had stopped sending forces up to the surface.</p><p>           “WARNING: SUBTERRANEAN RED CHINESE COMPOUND DETECTED. OBSTRUCTION DEPTH: FIVE METERS. COMPOSITION: SAND, GRAVEL, AND COMMUNISM. TACTICAL ASSESSMENT: BREACH COMPOUND TO RESTORE DEMOCRACY. WARNING: ALL PERSONNEL SHOULD MOVE TO A MINIMUM SAFE DISTANCE”.</p><p>           “Fall back! Fall back!” Nora screamed. As the last of the joint forces rushed away from Prime, the glow of his optic laser could be seen charging up before punching a hole through the dirt, blasting through the outer hull of the original Commonwealth Institute of Technology’s underground levels. Prime began to patrol the courtyard looking for extra “communist” threats while the large army closed in on the hole. At the edge of the hole, power-armor clad Brotherhood soldiers jumped, while every other unit quickly moved to scale the jagged walls of the hole and descend into the belly of the beast.</p><p>#</p><p>            When they’d made it to the bottom of the hole made by Liberty Prime into the Institute, the army found itself in the teleporter room of the Institute. Alarms were blaring overhead as the frontline forces pooled into the main chamber by the relay. Maxson assessed the situation carefully before looking at Nora.</p><p>            “The mission is proceeding as planned, Paladin. Well done”. He was all business: the side of his personality that handled being the top man in the Brotherhood of Steel had taken over. “Our next target is the reactor. If anything tries to slow us down, I’m ordering you to destroy it, man or machine”. Reaching into his pocket, he produced the charge for a powerful bomb.</p><p>            “Once we reach our target, you’ll need this”.</p><p>            “Holy hell, are we really turning this place into a crater?”</p><p>            “Are you forgetting all the atrocities the Institute has committed? Are you forgetting what their laboratories are capable of making? We can’t let something like this continue to be operational, or the next great villain of the Commonwealth will just find a way to repurpose the Institute’s abuses to new horrors. You yourself were one of their most notable victims. This place needs to burn to the ground,” Maxson said. His voice was undeniably simmering with hatred. Determination. Rage. Even the Minutemen and Railroad forces behind them were nodding in agreement.</p><p>            “Now,” Maxson continued. “It’s a fusion pulse charge. Attach it to the reactor and it can be detonated remotely from a safe distance. It will be more than enough to annihilate the Institute in its entirety. Ingram, you’re to remain here and teleport us out when the job is done. Some of our Knights will provide cover in case anything comes up that elevator”.</p><p>            “We should leave some Minutemen up here too, to deal with any civilians trying to run from the crossfire” Deacon advised. “I can’t imagine everyone in the Institute is a willing participant in what’s about to happen”.</p><p>            “We risk the possibility of allowing synths to escape. Not going to happen,” a Brotherhood Paladin retorted. Knowing what Deacon was trying to do, Nora acted quickly.</p><p>            “I doubt the synths that are still under the Institute’s control are going to be running for the hills. They can be reprogrammed by the Institute to follow orders, remember? We’re finally at their doorstep, so why wouldn’t the Institute throw everything it’s got at us? Individual families that just happened to be born here, though, they deserve a chance to show they’re not a threat”.</p><p>            “Are you crazy?” Maxson growled.</p><p>            “Think about it,” Nora glared back. “If we win, there won’t be an Institute left to puppeteer the synths, so what’s the point in covert agents now? Institute personnel all wear distinctive uniforms anyway; they can’t exactly blend in on the surface. MacCready, stay here and let any non-combatants through, <em>if</em> they abandon their weapons and agree to remain detained at the Castle until we know what to do with them”.</p><p>            “Sounds like a good way to get another scalpel lodged in your ribs,” Ingram scoffed.</p><p>            “You’d be surprised what giving an innocent person one simple chance can do,” Nora retorted, looking back at MacCready. “<em>That</em>’s an order.”.</p><p>            “General,” MacCready asked, “what if they don’t, say, drop their weapons?”</p><p>            “Then they’re obviously not non-combatants, are they? If they do anything <em>other</em> than give you an unconditional surrender, MacCready, shoot them. I don’t care if it’s drawing a weapon on you or staring at Proctor Ingram funny. I just don’t want to say we didn’t give them a chance”.</p><p>            “They never gave you or your son one,” Ingram deadpanned.</p><p>            “Yeah, but <em>I’m not them</em>,” Nora reminded them, quieting Ingram and Maxson.</p><p>            “Fair. Sort the wheat from the chaff, boss. Got it”. With MacCready understanding his newest assignment, Maxson turned his attention to a door leading to the lower levels. “That elevator’s a death trap and there’s too many of us. We’ll have to go down the old-fashioned way”. With a Brotherhood Knight proceeding to kick down the door, the group descended down the stairwell and into a ruined section of what had once been the early Institute.</p><p>            “This is the Institute?” Maxson’s voice betrayed a rare moment of confusion and disbelief. The walls of the Old Robotics section were caked in rust and dust. Though this place had no doubt been the birthplace of the organization that was now feared throughout the Commonwealth, Nora knew very well that the Institute was further down.</p><p>            “I’m disappointed. I expected more from them,” Maxson said, shaking his head.</p><p>            “We’re not quite there yet,” Nora explained. “It took them a long time before they moved from making brainless plastic synths to the human-looking models. I imagine the same could be said for the bunker that the C.I.T started with in 2077 compared to what they have now”.</p><p>            She looked down at her feet. “They’re further down. <em>Much</em> further down”.</p><p>            “You’d know,” he responded as the group progressed through the tunnels. There were synths to deal with here too, but no Coursers. Knowing the fight was almost at their door, the Institute had no doubt meant to try and slow them down before they could reach the lower levels. “I expect they’re merely watching us from here,” Maxson said appraisingly. “They’re analyzing our tactics now that we’re firmly in their territory and preparing a counterattack. Stay vigilant”. Picking through the synths positioned to slow them down, the group soon descended the tunnels and came to a door that led to a much more <em>familiar </em>location.</p><p>            The last time Nora had been in this room, she’d been snooping around looking for a way to get to Virgil’s lab. The presence of unarmed Bioscience workers at the doors, when Shaun and the rest of the Directorate clearly <em>knew</em> that the Institute was under attack was concerning. The Brotherhood forces at the helm of the attacking forces gunned them down indiscriminately before anyone could do anything. Nora felt a nervous <em>churn</em> in her stomach. Deacon could be seen grimacing alongside her, while MacCready and Maxson seemed undisturbed.</p><p>            “Now <em>this</em> is what I had feared,” Maxson said, re-evaluating his surroundings as the army flooded into the Bioscience wing of the Institute. “No controls, no supervision. Technology run amok”.</p><p>            “They had all this down here, and they still had to keep running up to the Commonwealth to terrorize people?” Deacon remarked.</p><p>            “I couldn’t have asked a better question,” Maxson remarked. “No matter. It’ll all be over soon. The data revealed that the reactor is in the middle of the Advanced Sciences wing of the Institute. Paladin, do you know how far that is from here?”</p><p>            “We’re in Bioscience. When we get to the main atrium of the Institute, we just have to hook a right and Advanced Systems is the next stop. They like to color-code everything down here; there’ll be a blue line on the floor leading straight to it”.</p><p>            “Lead the way,” Maxson informed her. “We’ll cover you”. That was easier said than done: as the combined forces exited the individual lab rooms and entered the main section of the Bioscience Wing, Nora found herself grazed by a laser turret’s fire and facing two giant gorillas that were let out of their enclosure.</p><p>            “What the hell are those things?!” Deacon yelled, managing to fire off shots to destroy the turrets on the ceiling while a well-aimed Gauss rifle shot from one of the ‘Minutemen’ promptly blasted the face off of a synth gorilla.</p><p>            “Humans aren’t the only thing they tried to make synths of, Deacon. Too bad real gorillas are probably extinct”.</p><p>            “Creator only knows what other monstrosities they tried to play God with,” Maxson said in disgust. Bioscience had been relatively empty. With the turrets and gorillas gone, Nora found herself standing at the door to the atrium.</p><p>            “We’re here,” Nora said. “This is the door to the main part of the Institute”.</p><p>            “Be ready for anything, got it,” Deacon nodded.</p><p>            “We’ll provide covering fire,” Maxson nodded at Nora. “Your only job now is to get to the reactor.</p><p>#</p><p>            When the doors opened, all hell broke loose. All remaining forces that the Institute had at their disposal were positioned at the atrium firing upon the army as it squeezed through the relatively small entrance to the Bioscience wing. Nora’s only saving grace was that Maxson had pulled her back to wait for a moment --- a wise decision --- as heavily armored Brotherhood of Steel units took the brunt of the initial shock to allow everyone behind them to slip into the atrium and start dispersing the concentrated assault. In the midst of the confusion, Nora found herself shooting and reloading frantically as she dove to her right and began rushing to Advanced Systems. Several of the supporting forces followed behind her, protecting her from most synths and Courser standing in her way. Maxson and Deacon had disappeared into the fray, no doubt focusing on eliminating as many Institute hostiles as possible. Looking behind her for a brief moment, Nora found her eyes falling on the windows of the Director’s Quarters. Shaun was nowhere to be seen.</p><p>            As quickly as she’d glanced at the window, she found herself returning to the heat of the battle unfolding before her. On one reload, close to the door to Advanced Systems, a Gen 2 synth had managed to grab her arm and disrupt her. With everyone behind her engaged with some other threat, Nora focused all of her strength on pushing down the Gen 2 unit and smashing its head repeatedly with her own fists. She couldn’t claim as much strength as most of the other soldiers behind her, no matter where their allegiances lay. Still, the Commonwealth had changed. The lawyer that had left the Vault was likely not capable of fighting to the death in the midst of a heated war, but the Nora that had taken that woman’s place was enough to do the job. Lifting the destroyed synth up in front of her, she used its body as a shield as she entered the corridor to Advanced Systems.</p><p>           One problem: the door was locked. There was no lock to pick, and the best efforts of any soldier behind her couldn’t break it down. Ingram’s voice soon echoed overhead on a speaker.</p><p>           “Paladin! Advanced Systems is under lockdown! The only way to override that command is from the Director’s Quarters!” Ingram needn’t have said anything: Nora was already running in that direction, knowing with worry and grief that Shaun would be waiting on the other side. As her reinforcements cleared the way for her to get to the Director’s Quarters, Nora slipped back into the room she’d remembered so well and found herself alone with Shaun, who was laying in a bed not far from his terminal. He was awake, but obviously weakened from the last time she’d seen him.</p><p>           Cancer had taken its toll. Embittered, he could barely muster the strength to speak.</p><p>           “I didn’t expect to see you again, Mother. I don’t suppose you’re here because you’ve changed your mind”.</p><p>           “Shaun, sweetheart…” the mother in her took over. “…are you in pain?”</p><p>           He wasn’t having it. “Don’t pretend to care now. You had your chance to help me, and you cast me aside. It’s not enough that I lay here, dying. Now you plan on what…destroying everything? Under what righteous pretense do you justify this atrocity?”</p><p>           “Seriously?” She felt her heart breaking under the strain of trying to reason why someone as gifted as her own son couldn’t understand the truth. “All the enemies you’ve created, Shaun, and you can’t imagine why I’d be standing here?”</p><p>           “Perhaps I never thought to count you among them,” Shaun smiled sadly. She could feel a few tears dripping from her cheeks. Shaun’s eyes appeared a bit glassy, but the older man was far more restrained. Whether that was the Institute’s doing, age, or something else, she could not tell. “Well, none of it matters now. You’ll accomplish your task and ruin humanity’s best hope for the future. The only question left then, Mother, is why you’re standing here. Is it regret, or did you just come to gloat?”</p><p>           She steeled herself. For better and for worse, the Institute had been his entire life. Even though he could never understand why, it was undeniable that she was destroying all she held dear. <em>Unless</em>…</p><p>           “Institute personnel won’t last long above ground, Shaun, especially if half the Commonwealth’s out to hunt them down. I can protect them, but I need your help”. For a moment, he was silent. His own conviction shone brightly in his eyes --- the ones he’d inherited from her --- before they dimmed.</p><p>           “Very well,” he said softly. “The terminal. Enter access code 9003. Now, <em>go</em>. Leave me”. At his behest, she turned away from him, not stopping to look at anything but the terminal that held all of his Director’s commands as she issued the evacuation order, shut down some of the synths, and unlocked the door to Advanced Systems. She’d almost cleared the room before stopping and taking one final look at Shaun. He was also trying his damnedest to look away, but a brief curiosity took over as he turned back and saw her looking at him. Compelled by something they’d once shared, she returned to his bedside and left several vials of Med-X on his lap: enough to ensure his painless death before the nuclear reactor blew up, should he choose to accept it.</p><p>           “In another life where the bombs never went off or where the Institute never existed…you would have been the very best of Nate and I”. The smile she gave him was genuine, brokenhearted as she was. She felt a lump in her throat as she whispered to him that she loved him. <em>Really, truly loved him.</em> A single tear gently slid down his cheek as she turned away and left him to his decision.</p><p><em>           Goodbye, Shaun</em>.</p><p>#</p><p>            Advanced Systems was much easier to get to once the Director’s commands had been issued. The little glass booth that was used to study synth Shaun was curtained off from view. A few synths remained at the top floor of the Advanced Systems floor, but these were picked off quickly with the Deliverer and the help of the reinforcements following her. Only at the main room of the reactor itself, where her objective lay so close she could taste a radioactive tinge in her mouth, did the group encounter one final heavy wave of resistance. The synths and Coursers here were armed with the heaviest weaponry: plasma rifles, missile launchers, miniguns. Nora had needed to forgo fighting and duck under one of the observation windows to allow other units to whittle down the defensive forces in the room before she could proceed. When she finally managed to find an opening to rush towards the reactor, she felt a searing pain in her back as a hiding synth fired a round from a plasma sniper rifle into her back. As heavily armored as her Vault Suit had become, the plasma managed to melt through the defenses, searing her back.</p><p>            <em>That’s going to hurt in the morning</em>, Nora growled in her mind, remaining on the floor to look around for the synth that had just shot her. She could hear Deacon in the background screaming at her.</p><p>            “NORA!” One good shot from Deacon’s sniper rifle tore through the offending synths leg, causing it to fall into the sight of a construction light. With the element of surprise taken away, the synth found itself destroyed by multiple rounds of various different weapon types as Nora struggled to her feet and made it to the reactor hub. The terminal controls were easily accessible; the Institute had never thought she’d get this far. As she entered in the appropriate commands to open the reactor door, the wave of radiation hit. Disregarding the consequences and forgetting herself in the heat of the moment, she ducked into the reactor, firmly attached the charge to it, and stumbled out into the main room. The synths were now defeated. While a few battles with Coursers still raged on outside, Maxson had also managed to reach the reactor room. He was greeted with a thumbs-up from a haggard Nora as she stumbled down the steps.</p><p>            “Good work Paladin! I think its time we leave this place to its fate”. He took a moment to utilize a small speaker connecting him to Ingram. “Proctor, do you read me? Our mission is complete. I need you to transport us out of here immediately”.</p><p>            “Roger that, Elder. I’ll order all troops to fall back to the relay”. As Ingram’s orders were issued overhead, Maxson and Deacon helped Nora to the teleporter room. Another visit to Cade would almost certainly be in order, but that was the furthest thing on anyone’s mind as the thought of the Institute’s imminent demise loomed overhead.</p><p>            The only exception was Nora, whose mind floated to Shaun. Her boy would be dead in a few minutes if he hadn’t died already from the Med-X she’d left behind for him. When they’d made it back through the maintenance tunnels to the relay room, they were stunned to see MacCready and Ingram waiting for them with confused looks on their faces.</p><p>            “Our work here is done, Ingram. It’s time to teleport us all out of here”.</p><p>            “Sorry, Elder. I would but…this <em>kid</em> showed up. He claims to the Paladin’s son, sir. Mulyer, ma’am, I know you were looking for him so I had him wait here with MacCready”. Young Shaun’s face was staring back at Nora, breaking free of MacCready’s grasp to rush forward to Nora.</p><p>            “Please! Mom! Don’t leave me here! I wanna go with you!” Maxson, Deacon, MacCready, and Nora all knew the <em>truth</em> about the child’s identity. Ingram, however, was oblivious.</p><p>            “Is it true? Is that him?”</p><p>            “I…<em>Shaun</em>…”</p><p>            “I don’t wanna die! Please!” Instinctively, Nora found herself tightening her grip on Maxson, unsure of how he’d react if he decided to out the child as an imposter <em>or worse</em>.</p><p>            “I can’t take you with me,” Nora whispered softly. It wasn’t out of any desire to leave the child, synth or not, to die along with her real son. She needed synth Shaun as far away as possible if he was going to survive the aftermath of the Institute’s destruction, and the only way to ensure that this happened without Maxson’s interference was…</p><p>            “MacCready, we’re not done here. Grab the kid and take him to the Castle”.</p><p>            “But--!”</p><p>            “<em>I’m not going to let you die here. </em>It’s dangerous where I’m going. MacCready will take care of you. Deacon, go with him”.</p><p>            “Works for me,” MacCready said, scooping the boy up and rushing into the reactor room as Deacon followed behind them. Ingram quickly issued a teleportation command on the relay terminal to allow them and several other Minutemen to return to the Castle. Maxson said nothing, having apparently decided to let the issue rest until later.</p><p>            When it was Nora’s turn to enter the teleporter, she found herself teleported along with Maxson and a few other Brotherhood soldiers to the top of the Mass Fusion building, far away from the Institute. The button for the detonator lay on a table that had been hauled out to the roof.</p><p>            “Elder,” a waiting Knight said. “Proctor Ingram states that we’re all clear. The detonator is primed and ready”.</p><p>            “You do it,” Elder Maxson said, allowing Nora to let go of him and gain her balance holding the table. The C.I.T could be seen in clear view on the horizon. Praying that Shaun had chosen to die using the Med-X rather than by what she was about to do, Nora hesitated for only a second before using the detonator. There was a flash of bright light and a violent explosion as the second mushroom cloud of her lifetime rose into the air. The cheers of Brotherhood soldiers behind her seemed strangely dissonant compared to the heat and radiation washing over her. Maxson rested one hand on her shoulder. Far off into the distance, it seemed as though she could hear other cheers as well.</p><p>            “You’ve done an exemplary job, Paladin”. He gave her a genuine smile. It was the first that she’d seen from him since their fight at the Castle. For a moment, still feeling her stomach do cartwheels from the stress of everything that had happened until now, she managed to smile at him back.</p><p>             It was interrupted by the contents of her stomach violently rushing forth. Nora barely turned in time to avoid vomiting on Arthur Maxson or one of the soldier’s flanking him. As the smell and taste of blood hit her senses, she found herself suddenly realized that she’d gone into the reactor and soaked up all that radiation with <em>no</em> protection. Rad-X had not been something she'd thought to pack (or use) in the wake of assaulting the Institute. She could see everyone looking at her wordlessly in shock. The first person to speak was a female soldier without power armor, but her words were muffled and unintelligible to Nora as she felt herself fall back. Her head cracked against the concrete of the Mass Fusion Building’s roof, and then everything went black.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Radiation poisoning with no Rad-X and no Radaway on the roof of a derelict building is a bitch, isn't it?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0049"><h2>49. At Rest</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chapter 49: In which Nora deals with the wake of everything after.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>AT REST</h1><p><em>“Thank you, I’ll say goodbye now/’cause it’s the end of the world. Don’t blame yourself</em>”. – <em>Porter Robinson “Goodbye to a World”</em></p><hr/><p>            General Preston Garvey should have been happy. The Minutemen were finally back on their feet. The Institute had been completely wiped out. Despite Nora Mulyer now being out of the equation, the Brotherhood and the Railroad had managed to wordlessly agree to stay out of each other’s way. There were still super mutants, raiders, and feral ghouls to deal with, but the greatest monster of the Commonwealth was gone. No other wars loomed on the horizon. For the first time in a long time, there was peace.</p><p>            When MacCready and Deacon returned from the Institute, Nora wasn’t with them. Instead, they came with a young boy claiming to be Nora’s son. The three men knew that this could not possibly be true, and the realization that he was a <em>child synth </em>quickly unfolded between the three of them. Outside of finally telling Danse and the Railroad elite the truth about Shaun, Preston decided to keep that secret tightly guarded. If Maxson had also made this realization, he hadn’t told a single soul: the rest of the Brotherhood were none the wiser.</p><p>           A few of the troops garrisoned at the Castle even handled the boy like glass, playing with him and offering him some measure of comfort on the fact that his mother was a hero and that maybe, just maybe, things would be okay. If anything, the biggest arguments between the Minutemen, the Brotherhood, and the Railroad were for the future of the boy Nora had left  behind. The Minutemen demanded to keep him at the Castle, citing that as the son of the General deserved a normal life and the opportunity to carry on in her footsteps. The Brotherhood officers at the Castle insisted that he should go to the Prydwen and become a squire, citing that this sort of training would be useful in his life regardless of if he chose one of the Brotherhood’s career paths, or none at all. Officially, the Railroad didn’t exist, but hushed words from Deacon indicated that they did not believe Maxson’s silence on the matter would last forever. When the time came, for Nora’s sake, they would have to take the child far away.</p><p>           In the midst of all that had happened, Shaun became very reserved. The young boy increasingly hid from others at Fort Independence, reading on his own in a corner of the armory, not wanting to be disturbed while he coped with coming to the Castle without his mother. The only person he even let <em>near</em> him was Danse, who seemed to understand the child’s loneliness enough to quietly leave extra books on one of the shelves of the armory. Danse’d periodically ascend the stairs to the armory to “work on his armor”, but even Shaun knew that the small tweaks he was making to a new Gauss rifle from Glory was really just a pretense to subtly make sure that Shaun was holding up. At one point, when a fateful shipment came in from the Prydwen, Preston had also gone into the armory and left the contents of Nora’s Pip-Boy on the shelves with a note on what each item was. At least this way, Shaun could have some concept of what his parents had looked like. The boy kept his father’s old dog tags firmly around his neck, under one of the striped t-shirts that Proctor Ingram had sent for him. Nora’s tags, strangely, were nowhere to be seen.</p><p>           Much to everyone’s surprise, the circuitry that had been salvaged from Codsworth soon became a small, functional robot. The few weeks that had gone by while the powers that were in the Commonwealth adjusted to their new normal had also been enough time for Shaun to get his hands on a robotics manual. While the child finally ventured outside to play with the little companion robot that he’d named “Cod-bot”, people marveled at his natural affinity for engineering. Deacon took that opportunity to find a holotape that Shaun had left behind, which Shaun had once stated was meant for the woman who was no longer at the Castle. The tape, played in the safety of the Railroad HQ the next morning, confirmed that the real Shaun was a grizzled old man who had died in the explosion at C.I.T, and that the boy, beyond all doubt, was a synth.</p><p>          Maxson’s incredible knack for poor timing re-surfaced when he arrived alone at the Castle via Vertibird the next day. Over a month had passed now since the C.I.T had exploded. The Minutemen and the Brotherhood feared that Maxson’s somber expression and gruffness to all parties involved meant he’d finally appeared to confirm the worst. Cade, who’d snatched Nora from the jaws of death several times before, could only do so much for such severe radiation poisoning. When Maxson was done debriefing the Brotherhood on the next stages of their operations in the Commonwealth, he requested for Preston to meet with him in private.</p><p>          Preferably in the privacy of the Castle tunnels. With only MacCready, Deacon, Desdemona, and Danse to be allowed into the room.</p><p>          “How is she?” Danse had asked --- almost demanded --- when they were finally alone to address the subject.</p><p>          “Weak,” Maxson said somberly. “She hasn’t regained consciousness. <em>However</em>, last night Cade finally reported that her immune system is starting to show signs of bouncing back. She might just live after all”. Sighs of relief could be heard from everyone else in the room, and even Maxson’s face seemed to soften with that news off of his chest.</p><p>          “I hear there was an incident in Diamond City while I was handling Brotherhood matters. Something about their Mayor?”</p><p>          “He was a synth after all,” Preston advised Maxson. “Diamond City Security handled that situation. They’re still working on electing a new Mayor, but every candidate proposed has agreed that Diamond City will join the Minutemen”.</p><p>          “The relay room we exited from wasn’t the only way out of the Institute. It seems there are still escaped Coursers and squads of mechanical synths to be dealt with,” Maxson nodded. “Mayor McDonough wasn’t the only leftover from the Institute, but the Brotherhood are already putting together plans to deal with that”.</p><p>           And then it finally came: “<em>Speaking of Institute leftovers…the boy”.</em></p><p>           “He’s just a boy, Maxson,” Desdemona remind him coldly. “He’s been reprogrammed to think he’s Shaun Mulyer. He just plays with that new toy of his and waits for her to come back”.</p><p>           “He’s a synth,” Maxson reminded them all. “And if word gets out about it, I’ll have no other choice but to gun him down”.</p><p>           To everyone surprise, Maxson quickly added, “…<em>so. </em>We will never speak of the synth child again”.</p><p>           “Wait…” Deacon said incredulously. “You’re letting him go?”</p><p>           “She said something in the relay room that I remember clearly. Sometimes one chance for an innocent person can do wonders. I almost made a grave mistake when I condemned another innocent man to die for being a synth,” his eyes flashed at Danse, “and Nora proved me wrong”.</p><p>           “Speaking of which,” Maxson changed the subject, looking at Danse. “You are <em>Danse</em>. I <em>don’t </em>want to hear a single word about M7-97. I don’t know what that is, is that clear? Other than that…you’re free to do as you wish whether or not you return to the Brotherhood”.</p><p>           “He might not come back,” MacCready teased, trying to inject some levity into the situation. “He’s been fraternizing with a civilian…” Danse’s face turned red as Maxson raised an eyebrow and quickly deduced…</p><p>           “Glory?” The rest of the men snickered for a moment while Desdemona merely shook her head in amazement. (Danse and <em>Glory</em> --- how the hell did that happen?) Danse just looked away in silence. Maxson softened for a moment before nodding. “It’s probably about time you settled down. I’ll have an honorable discharge written up”.</p><p>           “She was right about you,” Preston told Maxson. “There was good in you after all”.</p><p>           “Is there any proof about Shaun’s <em>true</em> identity?” Maxson asked.</p><p>           “A holotape,” Preston advised him. “It was meant for Nora. Her real son gave her one final farewell.</p><p>           “Destroy it”.</p><p>           “We finally agree on something,” Deacon sighed with relief.</p><p>           “There’s plenty of other things we might find ourselves agreeing on soon enough, Minutemen,” Maxson smirked. “But enough about that…this conversation, too, has been tiresome. When you have a working plan for the formation of the CPG, send for me. Perhaps Nora might even be awake by then. Now, if there’s nothing else, I need to return to the ship”.</p><p>#</p><p>            When he’d gotten to the courtyard, he saw Shaun playing with Cod-bot. The young boy strongly resembled his father, but it was Nora’s eyes flashing back at Maxson as the timid child stopped what he was doing and motioned for Cod-bot to follow him back to the armory. Maxson found himself intrigued, approaching the boy.</p><p>            “<em>Shaun</em>”.</p><p>            The boy froze in his tracks, looking at the Elder nervously. The fearsome leader of the Brotherhood of Steel towered over the young child, looking more like he was about to bark orders than anything else.</p><p>            “…did you make that?” In response, the robot gave Maxson an affirmative <em>chirp</em>. Most of Cod-bot’s parts were from spare scrap metal cobbled together from what Shaun could sneak from salvage shipments. Because he’d never found a voice module, Cod-bot could not speak. Somewhere along the line, however, Shaun had found a Mr. Handy eye stalk, giving Cod-bot a vague resemblance to a Mr. Handy that once followed Nora around the Commonwealth.</p><p>            “Y-yes…”</p><p>            “It’s impressive. I can’t say I’ve known a lot of young boys with a talent for building things”.</p><p>            “I…I like to make stuff”.</p><p>            “I was never any good at it. I much preferred shooting guns,” Maxson said, making idle conversation before looking over at the ship. Despite his attempts to be cordial, his face remained stony and cold, unnerving Shaun a little.</p><p>            “Your mother is a good friend of mine,” he found himself telling Shaun.</p><p>            “Really?” Shaun seemed intrigued. “Um…is she okay?”<br/>            “She’s still very sick”. Maxson bent down to look the boy in the eyes. “Would you like to see her?”</p><p>            “Y-yes!”</p><p>            “Ever been in a Vertibird before?”</p><p>            “A what?”</p><p>            “That aircraft. Probably your first time. Do <em>exactly</em> what I tell you when you board. Seatbelt on until I tell you that you can take it off. The last thing that needs to happen is for you to fall from that aircraft”. Maxson found himself escorting the child to his Vertibird, helping the boy board before climbing unto the aircraft himself. Buckled into his seat with Cod-bot on his lap, Shaun could be seen looking out from a Vertibird window at the Commonwealth from a viewpoint he’d never even considered before. Once they got to the Prydwen and Shaun had been helped to disembark, Shaun found Lancer-Captain Kells waiting for Elder Maxson.</p><p>            “Any news?” Maxson asked Kells.</p><p>            “No. She’s still unconscious”. Kells’ eyes flickered on the boy trailing behind Maxson.</p><p>            “Is that…”</p><p>            “Shaun”. At Maxson’s confirmation, Kells smiled at the boy.</p><p>            “You have a lot to be proud of, young man. Your mother is one of the Brotherhood’s best”.</p><p>            “I thought she was the General of the Minutemen,” Shaun asked meekly.</p><p>            “Wasn’t his father also a soldier? The boy seems quite timid”.</p><p>            “I was timid once too,” Maxson advised Kells, shrugging without any signs of visible emotion. “He’ll grow out of it. To answer your question, Shaun, she’s <em>both</em>. Or at least, she was before she got sick. She’s in the infirmary. I’ll show you where that is”.</p><p>            “Does the boy know about you two?” Kells asked softly. Shaun raised an eyebrow but said nothing.</p><p>            “Not now, Kells,” Maxson muttered.</p><p>            “Know <em>what</em> about you two?” The child asked innocently. Maxson and Kells looked at each other nervously before both deciding they weren’t quite well-equipped enough to handle breaking the news to the boy. Pushing Shaun very slightly on the shoulder to change the subject, Maxson ushered him up the flight deck to the infirmary. The truth about Shaun was pushed into the back of the young Elder’s mind, best left forgotten along with the rest of the Institute’s atrocities now that they had finally won. Once he’d seen to it that the boy had a scribe posted to him and had seen his mother, Maxson returned to his work on the Prydwen, leaving Shaun alone to get acclimated to the ship while enough time passed for Nora to wake up.</p><p>#</p><p>            It took another week for Nora to rejoin the world of the living. The sight of Cade watching over her was something she’d gotten used to by now.</p><p>            “We really have to stop meeting like this,” she said weakly, getting Cade’s attention and causing the Knight-Captain to laugh loudly.</p><p>            “I agree! As much as I enjoy your company, Paladin, I’d much prefer you <em>not</em> keep showing up here. You’ve had us all quite worried”. Nora’s head was pounding and her mouth was drier than a radioactive Sahara Desert. Sitting up, she held her head as it pounded while Cade had her recline against a pillow.</p><p>            “How long have I been out?”</p><p>            “Six weeks”.</p><p>            “<em>Six…?!</em>”</p><p>            “It’s April 4<sup>th</sup>, 2288. Almost your son’s birthday, right? I think you mentioned he was born in July? We need to talk about that boy. You’re not going to like what I have to hear”.</p><p>            <em>Oh god, he knows. Maxson must have t—</em></p><p>“There’s been some concerns about young Shaun”.</p><p>            <em>FUCK!</em></p><p>“…your husband was tall, right?”</p><p>            “Cade, he…<em>wait</em>. Huh?”</p><p>            “Your husband? Shaun showed me a picture of the two of you from back when Nathaniel Mulyer was still alive. I can’t tell if your shoes were elevated, but he seemed a full head taller than you”.</p><p>            “I…” she pointed to her head, which was still pounding. “Sorry, Cade, I’m not following. Nate was…six feet. Even”.</p><p>            “Hmm…six feet? A couple inches taller than I thought. Forgive me, I know you’re still very disoriented. Maxson brought the boy aboard the Prydwen while you were recovering. I had cause to do a medical check-up on him considering he was held prisoner by the Institute for so long. Generally, it seems he’s in good physical health, but he’s quite <em>small</em> for a child his age, especially with a father that tall. A bit underweight, too. I fear the Institute may have been underfeeding him a bit”.</p><p>            “O-<em>oh</em>”.</p><p>            “More than that,” Cade continued, “your son also appears to be quite shy. He <em>lacks </em>a soldier’s charisma. Spending time with the squires has helped; he’s come out of his shell a bit. I’m just worried he may have been through some degree of trauma while he was a prisoner underground. The fact that you were comatose for so long didn’t help that, so I’ve had plenty of reason to monitor him closely”.</p><p>            “Where is Shaun now?” Nora asked, tempted to get out of bed and look for him but afraid her legs wouldn’t support her.</p><p>            “Getting shooting lessons. I know Maxson agreed not to pressure him into becoming a squire, but the boy has <em>no</em> idea how to shoot a gun. That’s a skill he’s going to need soon no matter what he does in life now that he’s out of the Institute, so he’s been getting some remedial lessons. I think Knight-Sergeant Cain is working with him today”.</p><p>            “Some <em>good</em> news about your son,” Cade added quickly. “He likes to tinker with things, so Proctor Teagan decided to spend some time with him in the workshop. For someone who has difficulty firing a gun, he’s quite good at <em>making</em> them. Teagan was joking about retiring someday…”</p><p>            She was smiling. <em>Genuinely</em> smiling for the first time in who-knew-how-long. Cade returned the smile while adding several notes to his clipboard. “It’s good to see you so light-hearted, Paladin. Now we just need to return all the weight you’ve lost while you were out. Maybe tomorrow we’ll try walking? I’m not so sure today’s a good day for that”.</p><p>            “Do you think I could see him?”</p><p>            “Shaun? I’ll notify Kells. He’ll call the boy back up”.</p><p>            “What about Maxson? I’m surprised he didn’t sleep here…” Nora said for a moment before trailing off. Their relationship <em>had</em> deteriorated a bit. Still, Maxson had kept Nora’s secret to the bitter end; that had to count for something.</p><p>            “Elder Maxson…about <em>him. </em>In your absence, General Garvey’s assumed control of the Minutemen per your orders. Some local developments post-Institute have kept the Minutemen busy. We’ve been busy as well honoring our end of the deal. The Elder’s been busy with cementing the next stage of operations within the Commonwealth to ensure stability which, of course, helping the Minutemen reform a formal government. Once or twice, he’s come in to check on you, but he hasn’t had a lot of time to stop in”.</p><p>            Cade smiled at her knowingly. “Would you prefer I call Maxson first? Shaun <em>is</em> occupied”.</p><p>            “So’s Maxson, from what I hear…” Nora sighed. She could feel fatigue already setting in. Despite the fact that she’d been gone for weeks, she was more tired than she’d ever been before. Cade reminded her that this was natural, given her condition. After alerting Maxson that she’d woken up, he told Nora it would be a while before Maxson could stop by the infirmary; he was in the middle of discussing things over the radio with the Capital Wasteland Chapter of the Brotherhood.</p><p>            A bit of time passed while she tried to get down her first food in several weeks: some thick, flavorless oatmeal. Cade ordered a scribe to have the Prydwen’s communications hub send a message to the Minutemen that Nora had woken up. No doubt, the rest of the Brotherhood would soon know she’d returned from death’s doorstep. Strangely, the first person who came to visit Nora was Proctor Quinlan.</p><p>            “Paladin,” he said, uncharacteristically jovial. “It’s good to see you again”. He placed a few books on Nora’s bedside before smiling at her. “I assumed you might enjoy some riveting reading material while you’re stuck in bed, so I brought you some of my favorites. It seems we owe you a great debt for your efforts and your sacrifices”.</p><p>            “Proctor Quinlan’s favorite reading material, huh?” Nora asked, somewhat intrigued (and terrified). The titles looked like things far beyond her scope of understanding. <em>Ionizing Radiation and its Chemical Effects: A Historical Study of Chemical Dosimetry. </em></p><p>
  <em>            Decoding the Sympathetic Nervous System’s Regulation of White Adipose Tissue Hyperplasia.</em>
</p><p>“Might I recommend <em>Analyzing the Mechanical Properties of a Composite Sandwich by Using the Bending Test</em>?” Quinlan added, noticing Nora’s visible confusion. “Your son seems to like that one. It’s the only one he’ll read of what I gave him”.</p><p>            “I know he’s underweight, but shouldn’t my son be <em>eating</em> sandwiches? What good is <em>bending</em> them?”</p><p>            “Perhaps your son’s affinity for the sciences <em>isn’t</em> hereditary,” Quinlan joked, before pointing to another book. “Your background is more <em>legal</em>, correct? Try <em>Analyzing the Negative Impact of Technology in Protecting Intellectual Property Rights</em>”.</p><p>            “Er…<em>thanks</em>, Quinlan. Very thoughtful of you”.</p><p>            “Of course,” Proctor Quinlan smiled, before adding, “I really hope you reconsider not allowing Maxson to make Shaun a squire. The boy is <em>clearly </em>scribe material. Senior scribe, even. Even if he winds up joining the Minutemen, imagine what kind of good he could do as a civil engineer. At the very <em>least</em>, he should receive a proper education, and there’s no doubt this is the best place for him to be provided it…”</p><p>            “So I’ve been told,” Nora nodded. “Proctor, all he’s ever known is an underground bunker. I think he needs time to be a child before he grows up”.</p><p>            “If you say so, but I’m convinced tha— oh. Well”. Quinlan’s attention turned to someone coming through the door as he murmured <em>‘speak of the devil’.</em></p><p>            “Shaun?” Nora smiled. Her boy was dressed in an unembroidered squire’s uniform. Unlike actual squires, he was missing the typical buzzcut: complete for boys and partial for girls.</p><p>            “Mom!” The boy was overjoyed, running up to the bed and hugging her. Holding her son in her arms, Nora felt complete for the first time since she’d left Vault 111.</p><p>#</p><p>            <em>“July 15<sup>th</sup>, 2288 will go down in history as the day the Commonwealth Provisional Government --- that dream of our parents and grandparents before them --- finally became a reality. A 19-4 vote has seen General Preston Garvey be appointed the first Governor of the Commonwealth. We’ve all just become citizens of the United Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Strange name, I know, but many Commonwealth historians remark that Massachusetts was the name of the Commonwealth back before we called it the Commonwealth. Now normally I’d not so sure I’d share bright ideas with the men who blew up the world, but when everyone’s favorite Vault Dweller says she likes it, I have to agree to give it a second chance”.</em></p><p>
  <em>            “Speaking of everyone’s favorite Vault Dweller, she seems to have settled into life between the Minutemen and the Brotherhood well. I’ll be reading a sneak peek of Publick Occurrence’s upcoming tell-all interview with Nora Mulyer, the woman who defeated the Institute. We don’t often get many opportunities to speak with our favorite celebrity. It disappointed a lot of people that she didn’t opt to take the Governor’s chair, but between motherhood and keeping the peace between the many players in the Commonwealth, it’s safe to say she’s a busy enough woman to leave the governing to someone else”.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>            “Murkwater Munitions Plant wants to announce that it’s hiring. If you’re new to the Commonwealth and looking for a place to stay and some work, Murkwater’s the place to go. The economy’s been booming with farms and industries no longer worrying about the threats of raiders and super mutants like they used to. Yes, there will always be more work to be done. Somerville Place recently suffered some damage from a Radscorpion attack, but compared to where we were just a year ago I’d say the Commonwealth’s come a long, long way”.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>            “On a final note, the Brotherhood continue to make waves in the Commonwealth. Boasting a recent victory clearing out Big John’s Salvage and its horde of heavily-armed super mutants, the Brotherhood do what they do best, cleansing the Commonwealth of threats like nobody else can. Increased travel from the Capital Wasteland’s been bringing in the news tha—”</em>
</p><p>Old news now. Turning off the radio, Maxson got up from his work terminal to head to his dresser. A rare night where the next morning brought no important meetings meant that he needed to take advantage of the opportunity to get as much rest as possible. Removing his cat from his shoulders and hanging it up for the night, he moved to unzip his flight-suit before hearing a knock at the door.</p><p>            “Who is it?”</p><p>            “It’s me”.</p><p>            “Shouldn’t you be asleep?” Maxson asked from beyond the door, zipping up his suit to open the door and see Nora standing alone and unassisted.</p><p>            “Arthur”.</p><p>            “Nora. Am I wrong to assume you’ve forgotten you have a key?”</p><p>            “I have it,” she nodded, hanging unto the door frame for support. She hadn’t used it since before the Institute’s destruction. She was up and walking now, but Cade had remarked that it would be a while before she was fully back to normal. Her interview with Publick Occurrences had been done at the Castle. Outside Vertibird drips between the Castle and the Prydwen (and one small trip to Diamond City recently), she was still a bit too weak to engage in any specific operations for the Brotherhood or the Minutemen. All her time was spent on Shaun, peacekeeping, or resting. While he’d had time to check in with her, they hadn’t been alone like before.</p><p>            “I wanted to ask you for something”.</p><p>            “Of course,” he moved closer to help her to a chair. “Sit”. Them being alone late at night was still technically within the bounds of decorum; though they hadn’t had time to rekindle their relationship, or even address the issue, they were still officially engaged. Maxson had left the issue alone, wondering if the alliance would find itself sustained out of convenience rather than with a wedding. Maybe it was <em>better</em> that way; they were two completely different people. Still, underneath his burial of himself in his work, all he ever thought of was her.</p><p>            “Shaun asked me if he could join the Brotherhood of Steel someday”.</p><p>            “Really?” Maxson said, surprised. With Shaun typically at the Castle, he’d figured the boy would wind up pursuing a future with the Minutemen. Still, the fact that Nora would bring this up to him had meant that the decision had well and truly been the boy’s.</p><p>            “Yeah. We were talking about what he wanted for his birthday and he wanted to talk about his dad, so we did. Nate was a soldier, and I guess at some point when I wasn’t looking, Shaun decided he wanted to be just like his father”.</p><p>            “I hope he’s worked on his aim,” Maxson retorted, before turning back around to face Nora and ask, “you’re <em>sure</em>”.</p><p>            “No, but he is. He’s ‘turning eleven’ after all. So young and yet it’s a reminder he’s growing up. I almost forgot that he’s closer to his teenage years than to being the baby I lost all those years ago. That means a lot more out in the wasteland than it did in pre-War America. I think it’s time I let him prepare for the world he’s going to be a part of”.</p><p>            “You’re not wrong. My first real fight was <em>twelve</em>”.</p><p>            “They sent you into combat that early?” Nora said in horror.</p><p>            “Not <em>exactly</em>. It was a training mission. I was being escorted by actual Knights so that I could get some experience. Raiders attacked. Things went wrong. I went from training on how to defend myself to <em>actually </em>defending myself. I sincerely hope the post-Institute Commonwealth will be a bit more stable than the Capital when I was a boy, but it’s never too early in this world to steel oneself. That mission gone wrong did a lot for me a year later when that Deathclaw nearly ripped my face in half”.</p><p>            He came closer and smiled at her. “Your son will be well-prepared, no matter what he becomes. Of <em>that</em>, you have my word. We had a deal”.</p><p>            “That was part of it, yes,” Nora sighed. “We haven’t talked about it much, but I heard there was also a wedding on the cards?”</p><p>            Maxson was silent. Nora cocked an eyebrow and looked at him cautiously.</p><p>            “Arthur?”</p><p>            “You don’t have to do that,” Arthur said softly. “Our relationship is already <em>quite</em> amicable, and you’ve dealt with a lot in your personal life. I don’t think it’s in our best interest if we continue this political marriage, Nora. I can keep the High-Elder at bay without putting any unnecessary demands on you. There’s been talk of promoting you to Sentinel; the rest of the Brotherhood obviously respect you enough without me now for the Minutemen to be <em>more</em> than safe. You should be proud”.</p><p>            “That <em>political </em>marriage,” Nora whispered. “…it <em>was</em> a bit forced”.</p><p>            “I’m sorry about that”.</p><p>            “During that mishap at the Castle, someone else would have shot me. You didn’t, even after all that conditioning that the Brotherhood did with you”. She smiled at him. “You don’t have to be sorry about anything”.</p><p>            “You’re not mad?” Maxson raised an eyebrow in return.</p><p>            “It all worked out in the end. Everyone’s safe. The Minutemen and the Brotherhood help each other out better than they ever have before. Our <em>specialists</em> keep dealing with more nuanced problems. There might be <em>actual </em>wedding bells too if Danse doesn’t stop falling head over heels for Glory. Such a <em>weird</em> couple, and yet they kind of make sense, huh?”</p><p>            “I can’t say I know Glory well enough to comment”.</p><p>            “What <em>I’m</em> saying is that I’m not mad. Not at all. Despite everything, you kept me together through it all, Maxson. You even kept my secrets for me. I wanted to thank you, you know. For everything”.</p><p>            “No thanks necessary, Paladin”. Both their faces were red. Maxson found himself looking away from Nora, wondering if now was a good time to quietly ask her for the key and the ring back. A hand touching his shoulder snapped him back to attention.</p><p>            “…you think I could ask you one more thing?”</p><p>            “What is it?”</p><p>            “I said that <em>political </em>marriage was forced, but…do you think we could make something different out of it? No alliance, no political concerns, just…<em>us</em>, after all this time?”</p><p>            “I’m not sure I follow,” Maxson blushed, unconsciously finding his hands moving to pull Nora slightly closer.</p><p>            “I’m saying, what if we started over and did this right this time? Would it be too late for me to ask you that?” In response, she felt him pull her closer to him. He hadn’t <em>meant</em> to pull her all the way into his arms, but her relative weakness caused the small amount of pull he’d exerted to make her lose her balance. Without meaning to put her there, he found her in his arms. To add further shock, he found her wrapping her own arms around her, hugging him tightly. His hands were wrapped tightly in her hair, which had almost grown back to its original length when he’d first met her. Several kisses and intimate comments later, he found himself trying to extricate himself from the embrace. After several failed attempts, he carried her over to the bed only to immediately back away once she’d been seated.</p><p>            “Something wrong?”</p><p>            “I’m going to stop here before I do something I regret”.</p><p>            “You’re not helping my self-esteem, Maxson”.</p><p>            “No, you don’t understand,” he half-chuckled. “You’ve been all I’ve thought of for months. If we keep going, <em>I’m going to break you</em>”.</p><p>            “Not willing to see me back in the infirmary, huh?”</p><p>            “You’ve spent enough time there. Something tells me you’ll now be spending plenty of time <em>here</em>. When you’re back at full strength, I imagine things will be different, but for right now, we both need rest”.</p><p>            “So, we’re sleeping in?” She laughed. “Last time you ordered me to sleep in, it didn’t go so well”.</p><p>            He unzipped his flight suit, searching for something comfortable to sleep in, muttering, “I’d like to see someone stop us tonight”.</p><p>            Unfortunately for him (or perhaps not), she didn't let him have a single moment's rest that night.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Woah. This was a trip. I already miss writing it. </p><p>Thank you to all the kudos and comments. You really made this yarn I spun worth spinning.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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